The Devil within (My Version of Season 5)
by MoulinRouge3532
Summary: With Alison back in Rosewood, everyone's world is turning upside down. Aria is still trying to cope with the fact that Ezra is in a coma, Emily fights some old feelings, Spencer gets anonymous clues on A's identity and Hanna finds herself in a love triangle. Also, Alison will have to deal with everyone's reaction to her reappearance.
1. Like mother, like dAugther

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 & SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

* * *

**Synopsis: **With Alison back in Rosewood, everyone's world is turning upside down. Aria is still trying to cope with the fact that Ezra is in a coma, Emily fights some old feelings, Spencer gets anonymous clues on A's identity and Hanna finds herself in a love triangle. Also, Alison will have to deal with everyone's reaction to her reappearance.

**Heyo guys. Since Pretty Little Liars is on a hold right now, I figured ‚why not make my own Version of Season 5 in the meantime'? So, without further ado, here comes "The Devil within".**

**Oh and btw English is not my mother tongue so don't be too hard on me if you find any mistakes. However you can point them out if you want.**

_**2 days after the finale … **_

**EMILY**

Emily Fields couldn't decide whether she was happy or not. Frankly, there were so many different kinds of emotions spiraling through her head right now that it seemed almost impossible to decide on only one prevalent feeling. She was scared for Alison. Having her back in Rosewood meant that A – whoever it may be – would have an easier access to her whereabouts. Leaving Ali alone for only the split of a second would put her into incredible danger. Alison DiLaurentis promised to return after a very long and intense discussion with her former best friends and only after they managed to put up a plan that would protect her from her anonymous enemy. Also, for now her existence must stay a secret. Emily could only imagine the mental stress Ali would have to go through if it was revealed that she was still alive. After all, the reckless blonde had an obvious majority of enemies rather than allies. One opponent at a time was already enough to cope with.

Emily had always felt protective of Alison, even more so now that she really was in danger. It was a completely different dimension of 'responsibility' having to take care of her presently. A undoubtedly knew that Alison was back in Rosewood and it wouldn't take long for him/her to figure out the exact coordinates of her habitat. Heck, that maniac is better equipped than the CIA. Hence certain measures had to be taken in order to keep him/her away from Alison.

But Emily wasn't only scared_ for_ Alison, but she was also scared _of_ her, or rather of her feelings for her.

When Paige came around, Emily was finally able to put her relationship with Ali behind. It made her realize that even after losing something you've once cared so much about that the mere thought of it made your heart crack, you'll have the ability to love and feel loved again. Now with Paige gone, old feelings started to surface, even though Emily had been doing a good job on suppressing them so far. She hoped it'd go away after she would have gotten used to Ali's presence.

She just felt like the barricade that prevented her from even thinking about Alison_ that_ way, namely Paige, was now completely gone and gave her feelings access to overwhelm her again. However, Emily had become so much stronger over the past couple of months. Even though there might still be some hidden feelings for Alison in the back of her head, she wouldn't give in to them as easily as she once did. She …

"Ms. Fields, would you mind coming back to reality?" The voice of her teacher immediately snapped her out of her dreamy state.

"Uh… yeah … sure, sorry." _C'mon, Emily, pull it together_ – she thought to herself. _This can't throw you off again._

**ARIA**

Aria Montgomery went through a lot. She watched her family fall apart, dealt with the death of a friend, an anonymous psycho and concealed the relationship with her former English-teacher as long as possible. However, _this_ was different. She had never ever felt so helpless and incapable in her life before. It was as if her whole body was paralyzed and her brain in a constant state of emotional suppression.

Might as well be due to her being awake for almost 24 hours and not having eaten something in more than a day.

A great spectrum of noises surrounded her … bleeping devices, doctors talking to nurses, patients coughing and sneezing and the rolling of hospital cots. She fixated the erratic movements of the ECG-line and watched as Ezra Fitz's chest rose with every breath of air.

He looked peaceful, she thought. She tilted her head a bit. It almost looked like he smiled. Maybe he was dreaming? Were people in a coma even able to dream? And if so, what did he dream about?

A gentle squeeze on her shoulder made Aria turn. It was Spencer.

"Any good news?" She sat down next to her friend and put a cup of coffee and a bag of pastries on a desk nearby. "You should eat something. Your blood sugar levels will drop."

Aria looked at her for a second then focused her eyes on Ezra again. "The doctors said there hasn't been a major change in brain activity so far."

"Well … That does not have to mean anything. There have been plenty of people who woke up from a coma, even after years. What have the doctors said about his probable prognosis?"

"They don't know!" Aria said almost angrily.

Spencer nodded, acknowledging the fact that Aria wasn't really keen on discussing Ezra's medical condition.

"What are you thinking right now?" she asked, trying to sound as comforting as possible.

Aria shook her head. "I don't know … I … I feel responsible for this. I mean, I know I am not, but I do feel like I could've prevented this if I had behaved differently. Taking this bullet was his way of proving his love for me, because I was too stubborn to believe him."

"Well, you had every reason to not believe him. After all, he did lie to you about his agenda and his relationship with Alison. Even though his motives have changed, when he first met you, his intentions were selfish and ruthless. He basically used you like a book … Sorry for that comparison."

"I know, I know. I am not defending him on that part. I had a right to be angry at him but then again he told me everything in the end, he wanted to make up for what he did, but I refused to let him. I wanted him to leave Rosewood,, forever. But I can't stop thinking that this all my fault. I know I am not being rational, but I think no one would be in this kind of situation."

"Yes… I think I wouldn't feel any different if it was Toby. But sooner or later, you will have to go on with your life, Aria. Ezra would want you to do that. It does not have to mean that he will die, you just … you know, prepare for the worst."

The mere thought of the possibility of Ezra being really gone for good made her heart ache.

"I always loved him", she silently said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I just wish I had the chance to tell him that one last time."

**ALISON**

Alison DiLaurentis couldn't enjoy being back in Rosewood. Constant fear accompanied her wherever she went. She wouldn't leave the house. She didn't even want to open her window. She spent most of her times sitting on Hanna's bed in silence, waiting for her friends to come home. She couldn't stay at her own house because she wasn't ready to tell her mother yet that she was back. She figured it would be better if she didn't know. Hence she stayed at Hanna's.

She doubted that she'd ever get her old life back and that thought made her hate herself so much. Because frankly, she had fooled people so often that it had only been a matter of time until someone would've striked back. She wouldn't be surprised if she turned someone into a mentally disturbed murderer.

The question of why she'd come back kept reappearing in her head. It wasn't safe for her in Rosewood. She practically put herself on a silver plate. All A had to do was to pull the trigger.

She thought she had left her old life behind, thought she could move on somewhere else, far away from all of her problems, but wherever she went, A seemed to find her. It was like a grudge that followed her around no matter where she'd go.

So, somehow she had come to terms with the fact that she could either spend her whole live running away or trying to fight back. The old Alison would immediately have chosen the latter, but the old Alison was long gone. She had lost all of her power and dominance. She was just a little girl, scared of the monsters under her bed.

Sometimes Ali wished A should've just finished what he/she started. But if A really was some mentally disturbed person, they would have continued torturing her friends and Ali wouldn't have wanted to die knowing that.

She let her fingertips wander over the smooth silk of Hanna's bedding. There were no words that could describe the loyalty of her friends. Alison did think she deserved a second chance, but she couldn't understand how the girls would risk their own lives in order to save hers. Maybe they didn't know how much it endangered them to protect her. When it all started they were just tracking down an anonymous crazy person that liked playing little games, but now they were dealing with a downright criminal. She was almost impressed by their willingness to protect the prey against the hungry predator.

Maybe they'd succeed. Maybe together, they'd be able to bring down big A and they'd close this case once and for all. Maybe there was chance to be happy again … Maybe ...

**HANNA**

When Hanna walked through the streets of Rosewood, accompanied by Travis, she couldn't believe her eyes when they they fell upon someone that had vanished long ago. She put down her sunglasses and let go of Travis hand. He just looked at her in confusion.

"Lucas?" Hanna grabbed the arm of a tall guy with black, curly hair.

"Wha … Hanna?" He almost dropped the parcel he held in his hands.

"What are you doing back in Rosewood?"

"A friend of mine … He wanted me to visit him for a while. He's … got problems."

Hanna raised an eyebrow. His behavior seemed somewhat strange. "Problems? What kind of problems?"

"Well, problems that I can't really talk about, because they are private." He answered, this time with more certainty.

"Uhm okay? Well, I hope your friend will resolve his … uhm, problems. Anyhow, since you're back in town, do you want to grab a coffee sometime? Catch up a little? Things have been crazy around here."

Lucas hesitated for a moment. "Uh, yeah sure. Just gimme a call whenever you are free." He managed a reasonably authentic smile.

He then hurried away, still clinging to the parcel in his hands and left back a quite confused Hanna and Travis.

"Okaaay, what exactly was that about?" Travis asked. "Who is he?"

"Oh, Lucas? He used to be a friend of mine. He had a hard time in high school and we met at uh …" Hanna wasn't very keen on telling Travis she once went to a support group that talked about their refusal to have sex before marriage, just to please her boyfriend at that time. She didn't want to talk about her relationship to Sean in general, so she decided to lie. "I've met him at the prom. He made photos for the yearbook."

Now it was Travis time to raise an eyebrow. "Uh, okay. So were you two guys … "

"No! ... no, ...He was just a friend and I felt sorry for him. He also helped me get through a hard time. So we were both kind of helping each other out. Haven't seen him or heard from him since he left Rosewood to be homeschooled. But he was always nice to me and Caleb. He helped him too."

Travis nodded then he smiled and took Hanna's hand. They both continued to stroll along the streets of Rosewood.

**SPENCER**

The only thing Spencer wanted to do when she got home was to fall into her bed and sleep till the sun would rise in the morning.

Alison revealing to hear that Spencer was indeed innocent and never hurt her friend, took a load off her mind, but having her back now also meant that there were tons of new problems to deal with, trying to protect her from A being on the top of that list. Spencer started her research right after the girls had managed to pursue Ali into staying in Rosewood and since then put all of her energy into that. The only time she took off was when she visited Aria at the hospital. Except for that none of the girls had seen her the last 2 days. She almost felt like a hypocrite trying to get Aria to not neglect important things such as eating and sleeping, since the only thing she consumed in those 2 days was a gallon of coffee.

She had made a list of people, including all Rosewood residents and former residents that were or could be somehow in connection to Alison

She ruled the ones out that, as she has been told, were at the police station that night, which would include her sister, her parents and CeCe Drake, who obviously got convicted for murdering Darren Wilden.

Then she crossed those from the list, who were with her that night, which would include herself, Alison, the girls and Ezra.

Then of course she put her attention on the males, since whoever shot Ezra seemed to be too strong and athletic to be a woman.

In the end she narrowed her list down to 3 possible suspects, who may not be "Upper A", but who definitely could have been the guy that shot Ezra on the rooftop:

The first was Jason DiLaurentis, who did not only have a motive to fight against his sister, but also didn't have a watertight alibi, since the rehab facility he should've been in closed 2 years ago, so yes, Jason DiLaurentis was definitely amongst her main suspects. Furthermore he was athletic and muscular, so he could've easily made that jump.

The second one was Noel. Even though he was believed to have helped Alison and was allegedly elsewhere when the girls were on the rooftop, Spencer still couldn't trust him. Besides Alison mentioned that he had secrets too, so he was everything but innocent.

The third one was Wren. The girls never got a real affirmation that he had anything to do with Alison when she was still knowingly alive. However the connection to Melissa and Mona was enough to put him onto this list. Even though the thought of him being A was somewhat far-fetched, Spencer couldn't lose the feeling that he was involved in everything in some sort, much like her sister.

Maybe he was on the good side and helped Alison? Spencer knew everything she noted down were wild speculations but they made sense in some way and that was reason enough to consider them to be potential answers to all those burning questions.

But then again, what if whoever was on that rooftop, wasn't A? What if Ezra or Alison were the ones they needed to be protected from?

Spencer would probably go crazy with this stuff, but there was nothing in the world she wanted more than to get this over with once and for all.

**EMILY**

When Emily noticed police cars at the DiLaurentis house her heart skipped several beats. Her immediate assumption was that they found Alison, or rather what would be left of her. Adrenaline poured into her veins and she ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

She almost tripped, when she stormed to the front door of the Marin's house. However, she didn't take the time to observe the object that almost made her hit the ground.

When she reached her room, she found a surprised Alison. "What happened? Why are you so out of breath?"

Without saying a word, Emily almost knocked both of them off her bed, when she hugged Alison as tightly as she could. "It's nothing, I am just glad you're here." Alison hesitated at first and gave her friend a frowning look, but then hugged her back.

Emily realized a minute later just how sudden and unexpected that emotional reaction was and almost felt ashamed of how she had behaved. Nevertheless she didn't want Alison to know that the police was parking in front of the DiLaurentis house. It would only agitate and stress her.

"So what exactly happened to you?" Alison was still confused.

"Nothing. I was just sprinting a little. You know, I have to stay fit and so on, since I haven't been swimming in a while." She couldn't even try to sound honest, especially because Alison always saw right through her.

"Okay … and now the true version, please?"

Emily bit her lips indecisively. "I was concerned about you."

"Yeah, I get that, but why?"

"I thought something had happened to you."

Alison rose from Emily's bad and walked towards the girl. She softly took her hands and looked her straight into the eyes. Her look hadn't changed over the years, even though she did. Those blue eyes still symbolized her sheer power and dominance over someone. "I can deal with the truth."

"Promise me you won't get upset, alright?" Emily led Alison to her bed and they both sat down slowly.

Alison nodded in response, still fixating her friend with those steel blue eyes.

"There's obviously an investigation going on in your house. The police is parked right in front of your porch."

Even though Alison tried to stay cool, it could be seen that the message scared the hell out of her.

"Maybe it hasn't even got to do with A", Emily went on, hopelessly.

"Oh please. Don't try to sugarcoat it. They obviously got a clue from A. I knew it wouldn't take them long to find me. I should've known it was a mistake to come here." Her voice suddenly sounded panicked and she made an attempt to stand up.

Emily pushed her down softly. "Alison! Calm down… We do not know for sure if they are here because of A."

"Why else would they be here?" Alison's voice became significantly louder, her eyes filling with tears.

Emily was almost shocked seeing the once so strong woman losing control of her emotions so easily.

"Maybe they found something, I dunno. Please Alison, calm down, I am here for you. Spencer, Hanna and Aria, we are all here for you."

"You don't know what it's like to run away all the time and never feel save. You can't begin to imagine what I did to stay away from Rosewood as long as possible."

"Alison!" Emily pulled her into a hug again trying to calm her overanxious friend. "It'll be good. I am here for you."

Alison sobbed into the fabric of Emily's pullover, but after some time passed she managed to regain control of her emotions.

"I will try to find something out, okay? You stay here, close the curtains and wait."

Alison nodded. Before Emily was out of the door, Alison hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Em. I wouldn't know what to do if I you weren't here." Emily caught herself enjoying Alison's affectionate behavior a little too much and let go before her brain would jump to any assumptions. "Anytime", she said and left.

When Emily approached the DiLaurentis mansion, she immediately recognized Detective Holebrook's voice. He seemed to be talking to someone, whom Emily couldn't see from her position. However, getting closer to the alleged crime scene would automatically make her a suspect again. Emily couldn't even count the times the girls had been questioned by the police when it came down to anything that had to do with the DiLaurentis family.

She tried to recognize the other person's voice. It was definitely another man, but who?

Emily risked another few steps closer and what she saw made her jaw drop.

**ARIA**

"Ms. Montgomery?" A young female doctor entered the patient room, accompanied by a slightly older man with an identification badge.

She went straight to Ezra's bed, checked his vital signs and wrote them on a chart. She glimpsed at Aria and wondered who that girl was. Was she his daughter? Sister? Girl cousin? She seemed to care an awful lot about him, so they had to be very close. He seemed to be too young to be her father, so she ruled that one out.

"May I ask you about your relationship to Mr. Fitz?" The officer asked.

"Why would it be in your interest to know that?"

"It is relevant to the investigations. Mr. Fitz has been the victim of a crime and we need to ask anyone present the day he was shot."

Aria noticed the doctor looking up from her chart and looking into her direction.

"He was my English teacher", she answered nonchalantly.

"I doubt that a student would spend an entire day in a hospital just for her teacher. Ms. Montgomery, you know that lying to a police offer is illegal, do you?"

Aria hesitated. After all, she hadn't got any other options than to tell them what they wanted to hear. Her relationship with Ezra must've been known to the local police department long before.

"We were in a relationship."

"Were? What happened?"

"We broke up." She tried to stay as cool as even possible.

"And why did you break up?"

"We thought it was time for a break."

"Uhu, okay." He put some notes down and frowned. "Just how long have you and Mr. Fitz dated, Ms. Montgomery?"

"I don't think that this is relevant to the case." Aria was starting to feel a little pressured.

"We do think so. According to confidential information we received from an anonymous person, your romantic involvement with Mr. Fitz used to be illegal."

"I don't have to listen to this." Aria knew she had no right to run away from the truth, but being questioned by the police concerning the attempted murder of Ezra Fitz was enough pressure to make her do so.

"Ms. Montgomery, if you wish to discuss this matter in private, we can reschedule this conversation."

Aria ignored his words and stormed out of the patient room. She knew she had to be deal with this sooner or later, but right now she preferred _later_.

After leaving the hospital she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. New text message.

_"Now he is the one getting taught a lesson – A"_

**SPENCER**

When Spencer woke up it was almost 7pm. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. It took her almost 5 minutes to notice a piece of paper on her desk, which she later identified as a letter – there was no name on it, just the address of a post office.

She was just about to rip it open, when she hesitated for a moment. She then opened the door of her room and shouted downstairs "Mum?! Did you put a letter on my desk?"

It took a while until her mother answered. "Yes, sweetie! It arrived about an hour ago."

At least A didn't personally deliver it. Spencer frowned. She closed the door again and proceeded with opening the letter. The address seemed to belong to a post office in London. It said:

_"Only one kind of person has the ability to make a girl take someone else's identity."_

There were neither 'Kisses' nor an ' –A' at the end of the letter. Nonetheless the letter must've been written by A. Or was this supposed to help the girls? Judging from the secretive and metaphoric way it was written in, Spencer was almost completely sure that no one else except A could've been the author of this letter.

With Ezra, who'd be the only one giving anonymous tips in order to help, in hospital, there weren't any other options left.

Spencer took the letter and pinned it to her wall, then she grabbed her mobile phone.

**HANNA**

Emily had seemed quite upset when she called Hanna. She was whispering, but the excitement was undeniably noticeable in her voice. Wondering what had led to this frantic phone call, Hanna apologized to Travis for ending their date so abruptly (again) and took off.

When she arrived at the DiLaurentis house, to which Emily had ordered her, her eyes widened, as the first thing she saw was a police car. She parked near the house and started looking for her agitated friend.

"Hanna!" Emily came from across the street and pulled her friend in a corner from where they had a good sight on the 'crime scene'.

"What on earth is going, Em? Why is there a police car parked outside the DiLaurentis house? Has Jason fallen off the wagon again or has anything happened to Ali… ?

"No … no. It's not about Alison. It's… Emily seemed to think about how to formulate what she wanted to say. "They obviously found another corpse."

"Say what?!"

"Yes… I don't know who it is. Their face is covered, but they obviously found them in the DiLaurentis house."

"Good god. Who do you think it could be?"

"I dunno. But I saw Detective Holbrooks talking to an older man who I think it might be Alison's father."

"Woah… Does Ali know about all of this?"

"No … well, she knows there's a police car, but I haven't told her yet why it's here. You should've seen her. She looked so anxious, I was afraid she'd hyperventilate."

"Okay… soo, what should we tell her? I mean, she is definitely going to ask."

"That's what I have been trying to figure out for the past 2 hours."

"Well, tell her … they just found some piece of evidence regarding CeCe or I dunno. She'll find out about this sooner or later anyway."

Emily nodded and glimpsed at the crime scene again. "I have an idea of who this could be. But I don't even want to say it out loud."

**ALISON**

The girls reunited late in the evening. With Hanna's mother on a business trip, they had the house to themselves and no one could possibly find out about Allison staying there with them.

Emily had managed to come up with a story to calm Alison. It took a while, because of Alison's crank ability to detect every lie Emily was telling, but in the end she succeeded. Probably because Ali stopped seeing a point in arguing with her, but as long as the blonde wouldn't freak out again, Emily was satisfied.

They made themselves comfortable on the couch in the living room in front of the TV.

"Any movies on your wish list?" Spencer asked.

The girls exchanged some looks, but no one really seemed to be in the mood for a movie.

"Okay guys, what is it?" Spencer had noticed that there was something in the air the second the all entered Hanna's house.

They all exchanged looks. No one seemed too keen on making the first step. The only one seemingly confused was Alison.

"I got a text from A", Aria admitted silently. "It was after I left the hospital. I got interviewed by an officer and I was so pissed off that I just left and …" She threw her hands in the air helplessly. "How can a person be so cruel and sick and make fun of this situation? I don't get it."

"I got a text too. Well, actually it was a letter." Spencer vanished for a second, only to come back with the letter she got a few hours ago. "Here." She put it on the desk in front of them.

"Wait … it isn't even signed by A, is it?" Hanna noticed.

"Yeah, he or she might've just forgotten, I figure". Spencer shrugged.

"Or someone else wrote it? Could it be possible?" Aria inquired.

"I dunno. I couldn't think of anyone", Spencer responded. "Anything else you guys might want to share?"

Emily and Hanna looked each other, then Emily shot a glance at Alison, who seemed tense.

Emily was just about to raise her voice, when Ali interrupted her. "There was a police car in front of my house today."

"What?!" Spencer and Aria exclaimed almost simultaneously.

"Yes. Emily has seen it, haven't you, Em?"

"We've both seen it", Hanna interjected. "We don't know the exact reason why they were here. We figured it'd be about some evidence regarding CeCe, since she had a connection to Alison and the DiLaurentis family."

"That is at least what_ they_ had told me", Alison added, nodding in Emily and Hanna's direction.

An unexpected voice interrupted them.

"Has anyone of you turned the TV on?" Spencer asked with a frown. "I can't seem to find the remote control.

The girls shook their head and stared at the screen,

_"… when they eventually identified the body as Jessica DiLaurentis, the mother of Alison DiLaurentis whose body was found at the exact same spot two years ago. The police is still investigating. The only evidence the murderer left was a red piece of fabric."_

None of the 5 dared to say a word.

**A**

A black hooded thin figure is seen in a dark room watching a recording from the news report of Jessica DiLaurentis' murder. The person keeps rewinding the part where they show the crime scene and stops at the moment were the only piece of evidence is shown, a piece of red fabric.

_To be continued…_

* * *

**So, I hope you guys liked the first chapter of this story! Again, I apologize for any mistakes concerning both language and story background (sometimes I forget events from PLL and then my story does not really fit the TV series). Anyway, let me know what you think about it! **


	2. bloody rAin

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 & SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **With Alison back in Rosewood, everyone's world is turning upside down. Aria is still trying to cope with the fact that Ezra is in a coma, Emily fights some old feelings, Spencer gets anonymous clues on A's identity and Hanna finds herself in a love triangle. Also, Alison will have to deal with everyone's reaction to her reappearance.

* * *

**Thank you so much for faving, reviewing, etc.! I am so glad you like this story.**

**Some information for you … You may have noticed that I use a lot of dialogues in my story and because I don't always want to add an "blabla said or blabla answered" I put the first letter of the person talking in brackets at the end of the sentence, just so you know who is talking. **

**Also I know that some characters get more storyline than others, but everyone has a story to evolve, I promise. However right now the center of attention is definitely Alison (and also Emily, because well, I can't wait to throw some Emison in there) **

**Furthermore, I'd love to hear your guesses on who A is (both in my story and the TV-Series), so feel free to share!**

_**3 days after the finale … **_

**Emily**

When Emily woke up every part of her body ached. A stinging pain radiated through her head and she frowned in distress. It took a while until her eyes adjusted and she could perceive her surroundings. Someone's hand tightly clung to her shoulder. When she reached up to identify this person her fingers touched soft and smooth skin. – _Alison _– She thought to herself. She couldn't but shiver in delight at her friend's touch. Emily let her eyes wander and quickly found the other 3 girls spread over the couch which they all obviously had fallen asleep on. She didn't want to move, enjoying every split of a second of Alison's hand on her body, but her bladder urged her to go looking for a toilet.

She tried as delicately as possible to loosen Ali's grip without waking the girl. She eventually succeeded and headed to the bathroom.

The events from yesterday hit her like a glass of cold water, when her brain started to put together the memories. Jessica DiLaurentis … dead … This was definitely not some sort of game anymore. Whoever was behind the A-Mask was definitely someone with serious mental issues. They've known that before, but the situation became more dangerous with every assault.

No wonder Alison was so frantic yesterday when Emily had told her about the police car. A could attack at any time and they didn't recoil from killing someone completely innocent.

Was Ms. DiLaurentis innocent? She knew of Alison's murderer who she had seemed to protect all along, but she didn't spill before. Why would she say anything now when she knew her daughter was alive? It didn't make any sense at all. She buried her daughter alive thus she'd bring herself in trouble when talking to the police about that dreadful night.

Emily let out a deep sigh. She knew if this wouldn't end soon, none of them would ever get the chance to live a normal life again They'd always have to fear that someone would reveal their relationships and secrets to the public and in the worst case scenario that someone would hurt them or their loved ones. They couldn't spend a freaking day without any blackmailing or threats.

"I don't remember you being such an early bird." Emily almost dropped her toothbrush when someone tapped her shoulder from behind.

"You scared the hell out of me, Alison." She turned to face the other girl.

Alison looked like she had stayed up 3 nights in a row. Her eyes were reddened and framed by dark circles, her hair was messy and it appeared as if every spark of emotion had drained out of her body the other night.

"How are you?" Emily asked calmly. She hesitated for a second, but then coaxed herself to put a strain of Ali's hair behind her ears.

Alison looked away. "I am trying not to think about it", she responded silently. "I mean it is not like I had the best relationship with my mother, but if you grew up with a person, you usually establish some kind of emotional bond. And it undeniably hurts to have that bond broken."

"Of course… I can't even begin to imagine what I'd do if that would happen to my mum."

"Well, you better prepare for the worst. A has taken the game way too far this time and I bet they'd do that again. Practically none of us is save, including the persons we are closest too."

"Well … what do you suggest we should do then? Warn them?"

"I dunno. There's actually not much we _can_ do. Either we find this person soon enough or our fates will be sealed once and for all."

The thought was gut-wrenching. "Either way, we are playing with our lives." (A)

**Spencer**

It had somehow become a morning ritual for Spencer to go on the porch right after she woke up. The gentle touch of air brushing against her skin and the warmth of the sun rays were somewhat calming. After the past few months she needed this. Sometimes she'd bring a double espresso and some pastries with her and sit outside for a while. When she was at her own house it was also the perfect way to escape her family. However, this time Spencer hadn't much time for her relaxing routine as a dark object on the floor caught her attention.

_When did that got here?_ She wondered. She bowed down to examine it more closely and identified it as a rather large stone. She frowned. Was it put her on purpose or …? She lifted it up and almost let it fall again after her hand got in touch with an unknown liquid substance. When she looked at her fingers her eyes widened and this time she really let the stone drop. Was that … no it couldn't … or was it really blood? She checked her fingers and palm again and sighed in relief as she found that it looked way to unrealistic to be real blood. Nevertheless this was a clear message, from no one other than big A.

It was supposed to symbolize the rock Ali got hit on the head with and it meant that the very same person was planning on reliving that moment.

Spencer swallowed hard. She looked around in order to check if anyone was watching her, then she lifted up the stone carefully and transported it back into the Marin's house.

**The Liars**

"Guys!" Spencer hurriedly went to the living room and woke the other girls. "A has left another message."

She put the rock in front of her friends, who frowned in confusion.

"What kind of message is that supposed to be?" Aria asked.

"Turn it around", was Spencer's response.

Aria did so and her eyes widened at the sight of a red substance. "Is it … ?"

Spencer shook her head. "I highly doubt it. But it's only a matter of time until there might be real blood on there."

Spencer regretted her words the second the left her mouth, when she realized Ali's shocked facial expression.

"I am sorry, Ali, I … I am just trying to accentuate the seriousness of this situation. Guys, we gotta do something. This is getting more dangerous by the second. By now I really think that none of us is save, including anyone who was in any way involved in trying to track down A. We saw what A did to Ezra. And now Ms. D… I think we have enough prove that A is taking this to a whole new level. Again I am sorry, Ali."

"It's okay. I mean, you're right. But it's not like I haven't told you before", Ali responded nonchalantly.

"Do you think we should leave Rosewood? Just for a while at least? To work out a plan?" Aria suggested.

"Well, where should we go to? Noel Kahn? To be honest, I don't trust him either", Spencer answered. "Even if you do, Ali", she added. "What is his big secret, anyway?"

"I can't tell you that. I promised. But being aware of what he did, I have enough in my hands to bring him down if he'd do something stupid."

Spencer nodded. For some reason this wasn't the least bit assuring.

"I know it's not really outside of Rosewood, but we could go to Ezra's cottage and use his surveillance equipment … well, you know, if we are smart enough to figure out how it works", Aria said.

"Yes, as if a cottage in the middle of the woods seems like a safe place to be, Aria", Hanna responded sarcastically.

"Actually that is not such a bad idea, Hanna", Spencer interjected. "I mean you know the password for his door, right Aria? And he had cameras everywhere, so we would at least be at the same level as A."

"Oh, please…" Ali rolled her eyes. "They are always one step ahead of us."

"Nevertheless this seems to be the best option we have."

**The liars**

"Okay guys? I have no idea how this thing is supposed to work. Honestly? I can't even find the on-switch", Hanna said, desperately clicking on random buttons and not succeeding.

They were in Ezra's secret lair and checked his CIA-like equipment. So far they hadn't found anything they could make use of.

"How did he know how of all that stuff worked? Thought he was an English teacher, not an IT professional", Hanna added mockingly.

"Maybe he had some kind of instructions? It's not like he ever told any of us about his secret spare activity", Spencer responded.

"Well, do you know anyone who's good with that stuff?"

"Hm … well, there'd be a person, but I don't think you'll be very excited to know hear her name."

**Aria**

Being at this place felt like a time travel. Every little spot of the cottage harbored a memory of her and Ezra. Some were good, some weren't. She was actually proud of herself for being able to stay here and not succumbing to her broken heart.

She took a book from one of the shelves and brushed over the cover. _To kill a mockingbird _- it used to be one of his favorites. She sighed and put it back where it belonged.

**The liars**

"Mona? Seriously? You really want to invite the devil to help us bring down the evilness in person? The one that used to be an "A" herself? This is somewhat contradictory." (H)

"Think about it, Hanna. Mona might be everything but a nice person, but she is not on the A-team anymore … presumably … she has her own agenda, I figure. But she's an evil genius and she offered to help us plenty of time. Besides, she was probably employed by upper A, so that might give us some kind of advantage. Well, if she is willing to reveal more details, that is." (S)

"Didn't she say she had told us everything already? Oh, I am sorry, I mean didn't she already lie to us about not knowing more than that?" (H)

"Well… maybe there is some way we can pull her on our side. I mean after all she wants to know who A is herself." (S)

"I am guessing it's one of her 2,000 other personalities." (H)

"Hanna … we are running out of options, so we have to take any chance we can get." (S)

"If you say so, Spence. It just comes as a surprise that especially you think of Mona as someone we can trust." (H)

"I am not saying I trust her. I just think she is our only hope right now as long as no one of us figures out how to work with this mastermind thingy here." (S)

Hanna shrugged. She couldn't really reconcile with the idea, but then again, they really didn't have any other options left.

**Emily**

Whilst the other 3 girls were busy examining Ezra's lair, Emily and Alison tried to come up with a plan to get Alison to the cottage without anybody noticing.

The blonde observed her friend going through some clothes in Hanna's wardrobe, but her thoughts seemed to be elsewhere.

"Look, that should work." Emily presented her with a brown wig and a wide, blue hoodie.

Alison raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?" (A)

"Hey, do you wanna be inconspicuous or not?" (E)

"Fine." (A) She pulled the wig over her head.

"It's not like you hadn't done that before", Emily joked.

**Mona**

It always felt like daggers when Mona looked at you, or rather starred at you. Her look was so intense, it made the girls shudder.

"What exactly is it that you want from me?" Her voice sounded cold yet a little teasing. She knew they'd need her - and only her - help and having power over them felt incredibly satisfying.

"We have to work with some surveillance equipment. But we don't know how to use it. Since you've been stalking us for a good one year, we thought you could help us out a little." (S)

Mona smiled bitterly. "Yeah. Sure. I help you play with your boyfriend's little toys", she said devilishly turning to Aria.

Aria looked like she was about to jump on Mona and scratch her eyes out, thus Spencer grabbed her arm as a precaution.

"You can work with us. Isn't that what you wanted?" Hanna asked.

"There are some conditions though", Spencer added.

Mona's self-conscious grin immediately vanished. She hated when someone took the power out of her hands. "You need_ my_ help, remember?" she said, trying to regain control of the conversation.

"If it'll be necessary I'll look through whole Rosewood and beyond to find someone else", Spencer responded. "So you either help us and agree to those conditions, or this conversation is officially over."

Mona's frustration was clearly visible. "Spill."

"First you promise to tell us everything you know about upper A. Secondly, you will never go anywhere unwatched. Thirdly, you'll hand in your mobile phone and you only use it when we need you to. Fourthly…" (S)

"Hold it right there. I thought I was supposed to be a part of your team, not your prisoner." (M)

"Mona, if you want to prove your innocence once and for all, I suggest you make this sacrifice." (S)

The devious girl fixated Spencer with her eyes. It looked like she was battling with her inner self, or one of her other personalities as Hanna would've put it. Then she eventually agreed.

"Fine. But I have some conditions myself." (M)

"We're listening." (S)

"I don't wanna be treated like I am some mentally unstable psycho or schizophrenic. And I don't want you to act like I was still a treat, at least try to make it look like you trust me. And lastly, I also want to be informed about everything you know about A, including every text you received and will receive in the future. If this shall work, we have to make it work together." (M)

The girls nodded in response. "Deal."

**Alison**

"Have you ever wondered why things are the way they are?" Alison looked at Emily with a questioning look.

"Well. I … I highly believe that everything that happens is due to something we did. Kind of a law of cause and effect." (E)

"Do you think this is all set up by some great universal power? You know, like a god or something? Because I sometimes really doubt that."

"I think we can't really answer this question on a general basis. Everyone's got their individual perception of god and whether he exists or not. I mean, I want to believe that there's something out there, it'd make a lot of things much easier to understand. But then again, this is just what us humans believe or want to believe. It originated from messages of people who had a very, very low understanding of science, it is kind of hard to have faith in something like that." (E)

"Hm. I mean my family is catholic but not strongly religious, so I dunno. Guess, I don't really have an opinion on that. However, I am just wondering sometimes. Especially in such kind of situations, you know, when someone dies. I reckon people like the idea of going someplace nice when they die. Or that their relatives might be still amongst them as some sort of aura after their death." (A)

Emily , who was busying herself with cleaning the kitchen before, now sat down next to Ali on the couch.

"Yes, that makes sense. Who wouldn't wish that their life would still go on?" (E)

"Maybe those who wouldn't want to think back on their lives forever … about what they did, who they hurt", Ali responded darkly.

Emily felt slightly uncomfortable upon hearing that statement. She scrutinized her friend. Was she hiding something?

"I never told you this, Em, but … I did terrible things to my mother sometimes." (A)

"Like … like what?" (E)

"You could almost say, I mentally tortured her. Well, actually me and CeCe did that. We sometimes wouldn't stop playing our naughty games until my mother had a nervous breakdown. CeCe went to a psychologist once. He said she might have sadistic tendencies. My mother said that she was a bad influence and that I might develop those tendencies too due to my friendship with her."

"Ali, why haven't you told us that before? This is major evidence that CeCe could be the one that tried to kill you that night."

Alison frowned and looked almost indignantly at her. "CeCe is a lot of things, but she is not a murderer, or in that case, a potential murderer. How could you even say such a thing?"

"I … I am sorry, it's just that CeCe has been a suspect for so long and now that you are telling me this it just seemed like … like you wanted me to think that."

Alison shook her head, still a little poleaxed that Emily would jump to such an assumption, even though given CeCe's history, her thoughts were somewhat justified.

"There are so many things you don't know yet, Emily", Alison continued. "But you'll find out soon enough."

**Aria **

"Have you heard from the hospital yet?" Spencer sat down next to Aria, once again providing her friend with food and coffee. She and Hanna had arrived at the hut a few minutes ago, Emily and Alison were still on their way. They had arranged that Mona would come by at approximately 9pm.

"No… Above that I am trying to avoid that place anyway. Not because I can't see Ezra in his current condition, but also because that freaking officer is definitely going to look for me again."

"What do you think he knows?" (S)

"Well, for starters he knows that Ezra and I have dated before it was officially legal. I think there isn't anything worse they could dig up." (A)

"Why would he ride about that matter anyway? How in hell could he use that to solve an attempted murder?" (S)

"Beats me. But you know them. They look at every frigging detail. I mean yes, they have to, but I really don't see how this is in any way an argument they could use against me regarding this case." (A)

"Well, who knows. They always come up with a theory." (S)

**Spencer**

When Spencer checked her phone, she noticed 3 unanswered calls and a text message. It was her mother, urging her to call back as soon as she would see the message.

Frowning, Spencer dialed her mother's number.

"Spencer? What has taken you so long?" Veronica Hastings demanded to know harshly.

"I am sorry, my phone was on mute, and I was busy all day so I didn't check it", Spencer excused herself.

"Busy with what? What exactly are you hiding, Spencer?" (V)

"Mum, what is wrong? Did something happen?" (S)

"Well, maybe you should ask your anonymous little friend." (V)

Spencer almost let her phone drop at that sentence. "Excuse me?" (S)

"Oh, you know very well, whom I talking about. The letters? From London?" (V)

"What … wait, did you just say letterS as in more than one letter?" (S)

"Yes, there was the one you got the other day and another one just came in a couple of hours ago." (V)

"And you opened it?!" Spencer's voice became so loud, the other girls began to stare in her direction.

"Well, I have enough reasons to be mistrustful, haven't I?" (V) She was obviously referring to Spencer's latest medication abuse.

"Whatt will be next? Will we get a prescription in letter form?" (V)

"Okay, mum, listen … it is important that you tell me what is in this letter. (S)

"Why don't you come home and have a look at it yourself? Where are you anyway? I don't remember you asking me whether you could stay out tonight or not." (V)

"I am with the girls, Mum! We're staying at one of Aria's friend's house." (S)

"It says _"The more ignorant, reckless and thoughtless a doctor is, the higher his reputation soars even amongst powerful princes"_. I have absolutely no idea what is supposed to mean, but just the word 'doctor' in it seems suspicious. Spencer, you need to be honest with me." (V)

"I am NOT taking drugs anymore, mum." (S)

"Then what is this letter about?" (V)

"I don't know. None of us do." (S)

Her mother stayed quiet for a moment, then she continued. "I just don't want you to get in danger, honey. For god's sake, there has just been another murder in our neighborhood! It's like Rosewood is hunted by some kind of a grudge. Just promise me you'll stay away from people who might endanger you."

"I promise." Spencer had no other chance than to lie. This whole matter was way too delicate and complicated to let somebody in on it. Besides, if she told her mother what exactly went down in Rosewood, she'd never let her daughter out of the house again.

**Emily**

"It's only a few more minutes by foot until we reach the hut", Emily assured her friend, whilst helping her out of the car, checking whether anyone was there to watch them.

It had already turned dark and stars were shining brightly on the sky.

"Wow, what a romantic setting", Alison said. Emily was unsure if she was being sincere or sarcastic.

"Yeah, I guess." (E)

"Remember "Great Expectations"?" (A)

"You mean the book?" (E)

"Yes, _that_ book." (A)

"Uhm yeah… Why would you mention that?" (E)

Alison hesitated for a moment, before answering. "Oh, no specific reason, I just wanted to know if you still remembered it." She shot a glance at Emily, wondering what kind of emotion she had triggered with bringing that up.

Emily looked as if she was trying hard not do add anything to this conversation.

"You know, I wasn't lying when I said that I love you." Alison didn't know herself where she was going with this. Was she just trying to test out where Emily's boundaries lay? Or was she keen on finding out if the girl would still feel the same way about her like she once did? And what if she did?

Emily stopped, but she didn't turn around to face Alison. "Ali, please… Let us not go there, please?"

Alison didn't answer. She fixated Emily's back. A sudden crack of wood made her spin around. "Did you hear that?" she whispered, her voice shaking. She felt her muscles tense and her heartbeat increase rapidly.

Emily grabbed her arm. "I think we're being watched." When Ali made an attempt to let her look wander, Emily grabbed her even tighter. "Don't. Just act like we don't know." She loosened her grip a little. "Come on, let's go."

**The liars**

When they had all gathered at the lodge a heavy storm arose. Thunder filled the air with noise, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of rain trickling against glass.

"Mona should be here in about half an hour" Spencer informed.

They had curled up on Ezra's couch, wrapped in sheets, since there was no heater in the hut.

"You really think she can help us?" Hanna questioned, sipping on a warm cup of hot chocolate.

"Let's hope. I mean after all she's some kind of genius, right?" Spencer responded.

"Don't forget evil and manipulative" Aria added.

"Do you guys think she is still involved in the A-game?" Emily asked.

"I don't know, but I somehow think that Mona does not play for any teams. She has her own agenda", Spencer answered.

Outside the storm went on with ear battering noise. Tree branches crashed against the rain-soaked window panes. Spencer checked if every door was locked, when all of the sudden the girls sensed a noise. It sounded as if someone had opened either a door or a window. Alison almost scratched Emily's skin when she held on tightly to her arm. Spencer ran in the kitchen-part of the lodge and grabbed the biggest knife she could find. Then the lights turned out and a rush of fear went through everybody's body. No one dared to make a noise. The main room was briefly illuminated by a lightning and a dark figure could be seen. When the light was gone, so was the person. It felt like their heartbeat had stopped for a moment. Then the lights went on again.

No one could be seen. There was no damage to be found in any part of the lodge, as the girls started to look, until a deafening cry came out of the bathroom.

When the followed the scream, they found a shocked Alison starring at the mirror. There was a slurred text written in some red fluid (which they hoped wasn't blood) on it saying "PrepAre to follow, bitch. – A". Underneath was a picture of her mother in a freshly excavated grave.

Behind them steps could be heard. All 5 of them turned around in the split of a second only to face a very perplexed Mona Vanderwal.

"I think we scheduled a meeting at 9 am." (M)

**A**

Someone could be seen outside the lodge, watching the girls and Mona through one of the windows. The anonymous person than ripped out a page of a book and glued it to the window pane, so that the text was readable for those inside.

_"I loved her against reason. Against promise. Against piece. Against hope. Against happiness. Against all discouragement there could be."_

For the split of a second, the face underneath the black hood could be seen and a black veil became visible."

_**I hope you guys liked this one! I was so surprised that I finished it in 2 days and I am looking forward to your opinions on it! **_


	3. the pAst never sleeps

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 & SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **With Alison back in Rosewood, everyone's world is turning upside down. Aria is still trying to cope with the fact that Ezra is in a coma, Emily fights some old feelings, Spencer gets anonymous clues on A's identity and Hanna finds herself in a love triangle. Also, Alison will have to deal with everyone's reaction to her reappearance.

* * *

_**Previously on Pretty Little Liars … Ali still had to process the death of her mother, Emily fought her indefinite feelings and Spencer got another anonymous letter, just this time it was her mother opening it. Furthermore the liars made themselves comfortable at Ezra's lodge. In order to make his surveillance equipment work they needed help from former A and Radley-patient Mona Vanderwal.**_

_**In the end, they find a frightening message by A.**_

* * *

**Thought I'd always include a little recap from the last chapter from now on. Let me know if you guys like it or not! And again thanks for reviewing, faving, following, etc. You make we want to continue this as quickly as possible!**

**THE GIRLS  
**

Mona looked at every single one of them in obvious confusion. "What's going on here, did I miss something?" The second she asked, she noticed the "bloody artwork" on the mirror. She faked her best shocked look. "When did this happen?"

The immediate thought on everyone's mind was that Mona had been the one scaring them before and leaving this message in the bathroom.

"Oh, please, pretend you don't know", Hanna blurted out. "When did you get here anyway?"

"I just arrived a few minutes ago. Then I heard someone screaming in the bathroom and I came to look. That is all I know", Mona defended herself. It was hard to tell if she was lying or not, since Mona never seemed to be telling the truth, even though in some cases she did. It was as if she wanted people to believe she was only manipulating them, when in reality she was being honest.

"Didn't we agree on something, by the way?" she added, her tone somewhat displeased.

It was undeniably visible that Hanna was trying to hold back a sarcastic comment.

Mona seemed to be pleased as no one raised their voice again to accuse her of anything.

"Okay, now, what exactly went down here before I came?"

The girls looked at each other, then Alison turned to Mona. "Someone was in the house, but disappeared when we saw them. Then this message appeared, so I assume he or she has been in here longer than just a few minutes."

"So, it must be someone who has either access to the hut or a very good knowledge of hacking technological devices", Mona concluded.

"How did you get in here, anyway?" Spencer asked, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

"I rank among the latter", she answered bluntly.

"You hack your way into the lodge and expect us to trust you? What is going on 'up there'?" Aria pointed to Mona's head.

"Didn't we also agree on not referring to me as some psychologically disturbed person?" (M)

Aria didn't answer.

"This does not justify you breaking in here. How should this not seem suspicious to us?" Spencer stepped in for her suddenly muted friend.

"Think what you want. After all, there is no need for me to be here. It is you who want to find A. I have put that behind me long ago." (M)

Spencer swallowed a remark. "Just help us figure out how that god damn surveillance equipment works."

In about an hour Mona had set up everything they needed. Her fingers veritably flew over the keyboards and with every press of a button another display seemed to turn on, showing various kinds of places, including Rosewood high, Ezra's apartment, a few angles of a street, the Grille, etc.

"Ezra was really … precise", Hanna said, staring at the many screens in astonishment. Aria took in a deep breath. It still took her a lot to even be here, let alone be confronted with the private activities of her former boyfriend.

"Hypothetical question, Aria. What if Ezra wakes up in say, one week, would you forgive him _that _easily?" (H)

"Hanna …" Spencer gave her friend a reproachful look.

"No, Spenc, it's okay. It's a justified question. After all, he didn't only lie to me, but to all of us. He would have had a chance to help, but all he did was track down the perfect ending for his novel." She paused for a moment. "I guess first of all I'd be so overwhelmed by emotion that I won't be able to address this matter. I'd just be glad that he is alive and awake. Then … I dunno, I might give him another chance to explain his situation, but I am not going to trust him ever again. So no, I can't picture my future with him anymore."

Hanna nodded understandingly. "You're totally right. I know you love him, but this shouldn't stop you from doing the right thing."

"People do deserve a second chance, you know" Alison suddenly raised her voice.

All the looks were now directed at her.

"I mean, you gave me a second chance too, right? Even though a lot of people were of the opinion that I wouldn't deserve one. A lot of people want to see me dead for the things I did to them. I'd say, everyone has their dark side. Everyone is a little bit of an egoist. Don't tell me you haven't done anything self-centered before?" (A)

They all looked down at the floor, somewhat ashamed.

"Aria, I am not going to talk you into something. But Ezra is a down-to-earth and loving guy. He'd take a bullet for you. No, he actually did."

"I don't want to discuss this now. Let's try to focus on what's important _right now_."(A) She tried to force her look onto the screens, without her thoughts wandering back to the moment Ezra had stood in front of her, dreamily gazing into the sky, blood flooding out of his abdomen…

**EMILY**

When Emily fell asleep it was already 1am. After another night of dreadful events, she was more than happy to finally found some rest. Her eye lids became heavier and heavier until she finally drifted off to sleep.

She couldn't tell when she woke up again, but her surroundings were still covered in darkness, except for the moon that shone through the window and illuminated a few edges here and there, so she assumed she couldn't have been asleep for very long. Fog patches passed by the windows beside her 'bed' which basically consisted of a bedroll and another sheet to keep her warm. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

She was unsure whether she was still half asleep, awake or dreaming, but she soon sensed noises coming from the front door.

For the split of a second everything vanished in pitch blackness, but then she found herself back in the lodge, as if her brain was stuck between being awake and being asleep.

Her vision was mostly blurred, even though she couldn't tell why. However, she could still perceive a figure covered in red, walking towards her bed.

Her heart began to double its speed within seconds. She didn't even dare to breathe. Inside she was still hoping this was only some kind of nightmare or hallucination due to her sleep deprivation.

The person sat down next to her, not yet uncovering her face, but Emily could already see blonde locks falling out of the hood of the coat.

"CeCe?" She asked, not receiving any answers. "Alison?" she tried again.

The person pressed their index finger on their lips, signalizing Emily to stay quiet.

"Who are you?" Emily whispered, desperately seeking an answer.

The person reached out to put a strand of hair behind Emily's ear. Their touch felt unexpectedly gentle and soft. Judging from that and also the hair and the thin body of the person, Emily was almost 100 per cent sure, this was a woman.

The only two red coats they knew, were CeCe drake who was (presumably) in jail right now and Alison. But why would Alison wake her up in the middle of the night, dressed in a red coat?

This had to be a dream.

The person came a little closer and Emily tried to perceive their facial features.

Blue eyes, full lips, long and curly hair – Emily was almost sure it was Alison.

However, before she could say something, the other girl's lips were pressed firmly on her own.

She widened her eyes in shock. Nevertheless she didn't pull away.

She could sense a familiar scent, but she didn't know that scent from Alison. Alison's perfume was lighter. This was more bitter and penetrating.

Now she was at least assured that this was a dream.

When their lips parted, Alison had a wicked smile on her face. Without saying anything further, she stood up and her figure was concealed by darkness again.

Emily raised her hand and touched her lips. The harsh scent of Alison still lingered in the room and it felt as if her lips had never left Emily's.

When Emily woke up again, it was 7am in the morning. Alison lay a few meters away from here, curled up in her bedroll – no red coat anywhere to be seen.

_So it was indeed just a dream_, Emily eventually concluded. _Or was it? _

**HANNA**

When Hanna eventually woke up it was already 10am, but that didn't seem to bother the girl. She stood up, yawned loudly, stretched her limbs and headed to the kitchen. Aria and Emily were already awake, sharing some pancakes and a pot of freshly brewed coffee. Alison was still asleep and Spencer had obviously vanished for a refreshing morning run.

"When did you make pancakes?" Hanna asked in confusion.

"We didn't make them. They were already done and put in the freezer. But they're still tasty, if you want some."

Hanna shrugged. "Can't say no to pancakes."

After a delicious breakfast, Hanna decided to examine the rest of the lodge a little more closely. She checked every book on Ezra's numerous shelves, but quickly got bored by that. However, when she went to the back of the lodge, something seemed to catch her attention.

"Guys!" she called out, eyeing the window pane. "Did you see this?"

Aria and Emily quickly came over and looked over their friend's shoulder.

Emily shuddered, when she discovered her friend's object of interest.

"I loved her against reason. Against promise. Against piece. Against hope. Against happiness. Against all discouragement there could be."

Great Expectations … It was the book Ali read to her the day when she also shattered her heart into a million pieces. And it was exactly those lines she read, when Emily commanded all her courage and leaned in for a peck on Alison's lip (since it couldn't really be considered a kiss). She felt somewhat humiliated rereading this passage. She tried to cover her discomfort.

"Wasn't it in that one book… what was it called again?" Aria tapped on her lips in thought. "Right, 'Great Expectations'!"

Emily looked away and crossed her arms. "I don't think this means anything special."

"Emily, everything A sends us or presents us with has some kind of hidden meaning. This will have too."

Emily sighed. She tried so hard not to think about Alison _that_ way in the last few days, but it seemed as if everyone, including Alison, pushed her to develop feelings for the girl again. _I am not going to let that happen again, either it ends once and for all or it'll never end _– she thought to herself.

**SPENCER**

In the afternoon Mona was not at the lodge, but she had left her phone due to the rules set up by the girls.

Spencer sat in front of the main computer in Ezra's lair and kept an eye on all the cameras. She had managed to figure out how to turn them off and on again and how to alter their angle (which was only possible for some of them). So, currently they didn't necessarily need help from Mona or anyone for that matter.

She had continued with her suspect profiles and was momentarily working on the one of CeCe Drake. Her plan was to visit the devious blonde today in prison, but at first she'd put up some kind of a questionnaire which she would present to CeCe then.

She didn't expect a lot of answers from the woman, but it didn't hurt to try.

So far, they hadn't really gathered any more hints on who A was, but Spencer knew it would take time.

Everything was basically connected to everything. The night Alison disappeared triggered so many events which led to other events and so on. By now, at least 10 persons including themselves must be involved in this even though Spencer couldn't tell yet what kind of contribution anyone of them made.

She had put up the theory that there were actually several teams working against each other. There was the A-Team who obviously consisted of upper A and her possible henchmen and short-term employees (like Toby, Mona and for some time Spencer herself). Then there was another team, following some kind of own agenda, that possibly consisted of Melissa, Shana and Jenna. They were either trying to fight against the A-Team or cover up for something completely else. Maybe the murder of the person in Alison's grave? Spencer had that nagging thought that Melissa knew so much more than she pretended to. Was she really capable of a murder? Or was she covering for someone?

There were so many burning questions and so few answers. Some people's involvement may stay a secret forever, because they already kicked the bucket, like Wilden, Ian or Garrett.

Then there was Jason – who always seemed to arouse some kind of suspicion, especially after Spencer learned that the rehabilitation center he was supposed to be at closed 2 years ago.

What about Noel? What was he hiding? Why would Alison trust him?

And who on earth could Ms. D have been protecting the night Ali was "killed"? Thinking logically it must be someone close to her, presumably a family member, so Jason would be the first to come in mind.

Spencer had to get some answers from CeCe or else their investigations would stay as dead as they were right now.

**ARIA**

_{{{the following text in italic is from the lyrics of "Still Here" by Digital Daggers}}}_

- Flashback -

Blurred vision. Loud noises. People screaming.

_Musing through memories, losing my grip in the grey_

Her hands covered his blood soaked shirt. She tried to put a stop to the bleeding, but it kept flooding out.

_Numbing the senses, I feel you slipping away_

She felt her mouth open, she wanted to scream, but nothing came out.

_Fighting to hold on, clinging to just one more day_

His eye lids flickered, but eventually he lost his consciousness. She felt as if life had just drained out of his body.

_Love turns to ashes, with all that I wish could say.._

A strong force pulled her away and she watched the medics lift his body up and put him onto a litter, whilst pressing an oxygen mask on his face.

_I'd die to be where you are. I tried to be where you are._

Tears wetted her face, but she was unable to move, unable to speak, unable to fully realize what had just happened. In that instant she felt as if her brain was bursting because of all the emotions and thoughts that went through it.

- Flashback end -

Aria stood in the middle of the lodge, holding on to a page of Ezra's secret novel he had obviously forgot to put into his finished expose

"She changed my life, the way I think, the way I feel, the way I perceive the world. She made me feel loved for who I was, never judged. She accepted our relationship for the way it just happened to be, took all the pain and responsibility that came with it. She never left my side, even though she would've had a lot of reasons to do so. I am grateful for every breath she takes and even more for every breath she takes while I can look into her fawn eyes. When I meet her lips, I drift off into a world, where I'd like to be forever."

**HANNA**

She should've known that it wouldn't take long until the police would turn to the girls about Ms. DiLaurenti's murder. Her mother had just arrived in Rosewood, when the officers practically stormed her and the other houses. "Where is your daughter?" They inquired to know. Ashley Marin threw the door into their faces.

Of course they had a connection to the DiLaurentis family, but mostly because Alison was their friend. They didn't get involved into all this on purpose. Hanna had decided to refuse talking to them. Mostly because she felt misjudged, but also because she wasn't so keen on seeing Detective Holbrooks.

She got a text from Travis. "Hey, you up for a movie tonight?" She smiled. "Sure. Can't wait." She texted back. Maybe he would manage to distract her for a while.

**CECE DRAKE  
**

CeCe Drake was the official owner of all the answers so desperately demanded by everyone. They could question her as long as they wanted, but they wouldn't get anything out of her.

Her plan had been perfect, except for one little mistake, namely Travis. That stupid little rat was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Without him, it would've all worked out just fine. She wondered if he was the one turning her in.

However, her case wasn't completely hopeless. She would find her way out of this, or someone else would, she was sure.

* * *

"You have a visitor, Ms. Drake."

Spencer hesitantly walked into the room and sat down in front of the blonde woman.

"My my! If isn't the all-time busy Spencer Hastings. To what do I deserve this honor?" CeCe mockingly asked.

Spencer tried to ignore her remark, even though it was extremely hard to hold back.

"I think you owe us some answers", she eventually said.

"Oh, do I?" (S) It was obvious, that CeCe wouldn't easily give away any information.

"I suppose we have the same goal. We don't want to see Alison get hurt", Spencer added.

CeCe smiled bitterly.

"You _know_ something we don't and it might help us find out who is after Ali."

"Oh, Spencer. You wouldn't recognize the perpetrator if they'd be sleeping next door to you."

_What was she talking about? _Spencer frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, so you haven't figured that out yet? Hm. I actually considered you to be smarter than that." (C)

"Who are you talking about?" Spencer probed to know.

She didn't answer.

"Okay, let's try something else. Why did you kill Detective Wilden?" (S)

"Interesting question, isn't it?" (C)

"Would you just stop for god's sake…" Spencer took a deep breath, then continued. "Those games aren't gonna get you anywhere, especially not out of here." (S)

"Maybe you should be more concerned about Alison than me. As you've said, she needs protection. I don't see how I can help you with that, since my hands are obviously died." (C)

Spencer eyed the sheet on which she noted down all the questions she wanted to ask. Since CeCe didn't seem to be anything near cooperative, she decided that it wouldn't bring her any further to stay here.

"Thank you, CeCe, thank you for nothing." She got up and left the room.

What a waste of time. However, one sentence kept ringing inside her head…

_You wouldn't recognize the perpetrator if they'd be sleeping next door to you_

**EMILY**

Emily had been struggling with her emotions since she knew for sure that Alison was alive. Of course she had Paige to distract her for a while, but the thought of Alison kept reappearing in her head over and over. And then, all of the sudden, Alison was part of her life again, and various emotions came from every angle of her mind.

Nevertheless she managed to distance her from these feelings, at least partly, but with A bringing up all those memories, it wouldn't take long until her discipline would fade away again.

Even though her wounds had healed, her scars would always stay. And A would take any opportunity of ripping them open.

"You okay? You seem so distressed", Aria sat down next to Emily, softly touching her friend's shoulder.

Emily pondered whether she'd like to talk about this to someone or if she'd feel better keeping it a secret. She eventually decided on the former.

"Those pages… on the window…" (E)

"Yeah?" (A)

"Ali read it to me once … it was before I kissed her." (E)

Aria's eyes widened. "Really? But this has been a long time ago? So A must've been stalking Alison for way longer than we assumed, right?"

"Beats me. Maybe they just found out because of Ali's diary. I dunno if she ever wrote it down, but…" (E)

"Don't take this question the wrong way, but … how do you honestly feel about Ali being in the midst of us again?" (A)

"I wish I could answer that. It's … weird. I mean, I am happy she's back, but it's weird. And A bringing up all of this old memories that I tried to bury long ago, makes it even more complicated." (E)

"I understand. You write someone off because you think they're gone and all of the sudden… I felt that way, when Ezra appeared on the rooftop that night. For the split of a second I let myself believe that he was really the guy he pretended to be. I wanted to tell him that I loved him no matter what, but it was too late." (A)

Emily smiled sympathetically and put a hand on Aria's shoulder. "There is still a chance, that you will get the opportunity to tell him this." (E)

"Here. I found this in one of his books." She showed Emily the page that didn't make it into Ezra's novel.

….

"How do you feel now?" (E)

"Like some ignorant, egomaniac bitch." (A)

**HANNA**

It was a few minutes after 8pm when Travis picked Hanna up in front of the Grille. He softly kissed her on the mouth and raised his eyebrows at his date's sight. A tight black dress covered her body, accentuating her curves. "Wow", he said, an endearing smile on his face. "You'll turn all the attention away from the screen", he added jokingly. Hanna laughed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "We better get going, the film starts at half past."

**SPENCER**

When Spencer exited the prison, she noticed a familiar figure passing her.

"Jason?"

Jason DiLaurentis turned around briefly, identifying Spencer, and quickly kept walking in another direction.

_What crawled up your ass and died?_ Spencer wondered. Alison's brother did seem eerily suspicious and Spencer was still dying to figure out what he did during the months he allegedly spent at a rehab facility that had closed 2 years ago.

**HANNA**

"This is nice", Hanna whispered, cuddling up with Travis. He put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

Hanna indeed enjoyed the time with him. It was almost as if her past with Caleb was gone, even though sometimes memories of him would just pop up in the back of her head. She would never be able to erase those memories, that was for sure, but maybe she'd be able to start a new chapter with Travis on her side.

"Hey, isn't that the guy you met last time?" Travis nodded at the other side of the cinema.

Hanna had to look twice to identify the person as Lucas Gottesmen. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"You sure he is not interested in you like_ that_? He seems to be pretty curious as to what we are doing here" Travis whispered.

"What makes you say that?"

"Maybe the fact that he keeps starring in our direction."

"Well, maybe he is just trying to find out whether it's me or just some look alike" Hanna stated insouciantly.

Travis looked into Lucas direction again, eyeing him suspiciously. For some reason he didn't trust that guy, and neither should Hanna.

**CECE DRAKE  
**

"You sure it'll work?" CeCe looked worried, a feeling that didn't really fit her. Someone was visiting her at her cell, presumably without the knowledge of the police officers.

The person on the outer side of the bars put their hand on her face and softly stroked her cheek.

"Please be cautious." (C)

When Hanna and Travis left the cinema, Hanna noticed Lucas worriedly walking back and forth. She kept herself from confronting him about his awkward behavior and watched from the distance.

Her jaw dropped when she saw someone in a black hoodie – face covered – giving Lucas what obviously seemed to be some sort of document.

**ALISON**

Alison and Emily were sitting on the couch at Ezra's lodge. None of them had said a single word, after Alison had revealed to Emily that she wanted to leave Rosewood again.

"I don't feel save here. A has eyes everywhere" she had said.

"But you can't run away forever. If you stay here and support us with your knowledge, we might be able to finally bring them down" Emily had answered.

She couldn't stand the thought of seeing Alison leave again.

Alison had almost had tears in her eyes during their conversations. "Don't you see what is happening? People around me keep dying. It's not just me I am worried about. It is all of you, especially you, Emily." She had paused after that. "I don't want to see you get hurt, I lo…" At that point of time she hadn't been able to contain her tears anymore.

"Alison … we are in this together and we will also get through this together." She had taken the blonde's hand, having regretted it only a few seconds later, as she had felt a stinging pain jolt go through her heart at the mere thought of letting go of Alison again.

"I can't watch you walk away again", she had added.

Alison hadn't answered. She had just looked away.

And now there they were, not daring to break the silence or look each other.

**A**

Someone was flipping through Jason's yearbook. Ian and Garret's pictures were shown to be crossed out. The person took a black pen and slowly crossed out Jason's photograph as well.

* * *

_**I am not so sure what to think of this piece of writing. It seemed a little harder this time to keep writing. However you may be glad to hear that I already have lots of ideas for the next chapter(s)! Again, I am sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes or any misuses of words and for possible errors regarding the previous storyline of PLL. Anyway, let me know what you think about Chapter 3 ! **_


	4. knowledge means deAth

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 & SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **With Alison back in Rosewood, everyone's world is turning upside down. Aria is still trying to cope with the fact that Ezra is in a coma, Emily fights some old feelings, Spencer gets anonymous clues on A's identity and Hanna finds herself in a love triangle. Also, Alison will have to deal with everyone's reaction to her reappearance.

* * *

_**Previously on Pretty Little Liars … Spencer talked to CeCe and she does seem to know who A might be. Hanna found that Lucas' special friend likes to wear black hoodies, Aria and Emily had to confront themselves with the feelings for a lost love. And what is Jason trying to hide?**_

* * *

**a/n This chapter is definitely going to be a shocking one. Some people will return, some will leave and a lot of emotions will have to be dealt with. As usual, keep reviewing! I love to hear your thoughts on my story! I am also open to critique, wishes, etc. **

**The ****girls**

Once again Rosewood was dressed in black. This time it was to honor the previously deceased Ms. Jessica DiLaurentis. The reasons of her death may rest in peace with her.

The girls had gathered in front of the church and watched the masses of people walk in. They recognized a lot of similar faces. After all, Jessica DiLaurentis' death seemed to have affected a lot of people. Ashley Marin approached them. "Hey, girls. How are you doing?" She asked comfortingly.

"We're okay", the responded in unison. They remained in silence for a while, then they eventually entered the church.

They hurriedly sat down when they noticed the funeral had already begun.

A pastor was reading from a prepared manuscript: "… and she will be in our memory as a caring mother, a loving wife and a loyal friend …

He went on, while the girls were busy examining the attenders of the funeral. Hanna noticed a familiar figure in the back of the hall. "Guys", she whispered. They all turned to face her. "Isn't that the woman that visited Wilden's funeral as well?" She nodded at a person in one of the back rows, completely dressed in black with a veil in front of her face.

"Do you think that might be big A?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know, but she seems to be involved with both Wilden and the DiLaurentis family. I don't really think she's here to pay her respects."

The woman eventually noticed the 4 girls starring at her and quickly got up.

"We have to follow her", Aria commanded. "Come on guys, get up."

"We are at a funeral. We can't just get up and run away" Spencer interjected.

"This may be our only chance to get some information. We'll make up an apology" Hanna responded, already rising from her seat.

The looks briefly turned to the 4 girls making their way out of the church, but soon enough focused their attention back on the pastor again.

"There she is!" Emily pointed at the running figure.

They kept on following her for about 5 minutes, when she managed to get into a black limousine. However, she had forgotten something on her way…

Spencer bowed down to pick up the tiny piece of paper. "Guys, I think this might be valuable information." She showed it to the other girls.

"It's an address" Hanna stated. "Wait, that address seems familiar." She thought for a minute. "It's the address for Noel Kahn's apartment!"

"Wha… but he couldn't have been in that dress. I mean, I know he has got quite the body, but to fit into that he would've to undergo plastic surgery", Spencer commented.

Emily's cellphone vibrated in her pocket. She quickly retrieved it without anyone noticing, since they were all busy discussing the possibility of Noel's involvement in the A-game.

New Message. _God, I hope it's not A_.

From: Paige McCullers

Text: Hey, u have time to talk? If yes, meet me at the Grille in about 20 mins.

She frowned, and considered ignoring her, but since going back to the funeral wasn't an option after they had rushed out of there so unexpectedly, she might as well meet the other girl.

"But Alison said she trusted him, because, and I quote, 'Noel has secrets to' " Spencer said to Hanna.

"Yeah, maybe he just tricked her into believing him. I mean for all we know A is big on manipulation" (H)

"Hey guys, I gotta go. My mother wants me to run some errands for her" Emily informed the others.

"Me too. I am meeting Ezra's family in about 15 minutes at the hospital" Aria added.

**Emily**

Seeing Paige after all that had happened felt sort of strange to Emily. Deep in her heart she knew that the girl still meant an awful lot to her, but obviously not enough. Maybe those feelings would've developed over time, but maybe Emily had just tried to talk herself into believing this. Truth was, Emily compared every relationship she had so far with her feelings for Alison. Nothing was ever quite as intense. Emily had sensed long before that she and Paige are not going anywhere specific in their future. It was a nice thing for the time being and she didn't rule out the fact that things could always change, but to be brutally honest she had always known that their relationship had an expiration date. Knowing that Paige would do something on purpose that would hurt Alison was just the final straw. And yes, Emily knew that she mostly did it because she wanted to protect her, but there was also some kind of ego-agenda behind that. Paige never stopped being jealous of Alison. She had her reasons though.

Emily didn't feel as heartbroken as she should have when she found that Paige had taken advantage of her trust. It was rather a feeling of foolishness for having trusted her with something so big and important.

"Hey." Paige forced a smile on her lips. "How have you been? I heard about the thing with Ms. DiLaurentis…"

Emily nodded. "Yes it … we were all very shocked. None of us had expected this."

The tension between them was almost tangible.

"Well, I hope you are still doing well nevertheless. I wondered if we … could … maybe talk about what had went down between us? 'cause I really feel like you didn't give me enough chance to explain." (P)

Emily hesitated. She had made up her mind and nothing could really change that anymore. However, it might help her get her mind off Alison for a while. After all, it had helped before. Above that Emily would feel terrible for sending Paige away again.

She nodded. They took a seat in front of the coffee shop and ordered two Cappuccinos before they eventually started to address the matter.

"I just want you to know that my prior goal was to keep you away from the source of danger. I know that Alison may not be dangerous anymore, but someone is and that someone is always at her heels. This person had the intention to kill her and they still have. The may have killed Ms. DiLaurentis and all the other people too. And it was only a natural kind of reaction for me to keep you away from this person. By helping Alison you would have just provoked the anger of that psycho. I couldn't forgive myself to lose you because of your own blindness." (P)

"Alison is my friend and friends don't let outer friends down. She risked her own life to protect me, and now it is my turn to protect her" Emily declared matter-of-factly.

"Yes, I do get that, but you need to see it from _my_ point of view" , Paige tried to explain desperately.

Emily didn't answer. She gazed vacantly into the distance. "I understand", she said. "But it won't change my decision, I hope you know that."

"Why? I mean clearly there are some other reasons behind your decision. Don't tell me you didn't have an ulterior motive when we broke up."

"I … yes, maybe I do have other reasons. Maybe it's because we simply don't fit. Maybe it's because we are so different, that there is no way in hell that we'll ever understand where the other one is coming from. Maybe that is why" Emily reasoned sternly.

"Can't we just let go of that idea that people with different characters can't match?" (P)

"Obviously not." (E)

"You know, I actually think you were just looking for any reason to end this. Me breaking your trust came in handy for you, didn't it? It was just a legitimate excuse for you to let go off me because you are still hunting a dream that'll never be a reality. Face it Emily, you can't let go of Alison and you never will." (P)

Emily was clearly shocked that Paige had the nerves to say that to her face.

"I am not going to put up with this any longer. I gave you a chance to explain yourself, but_ this_ was definitely not my plan." Emily almost knocked over her coffee pot, when getting up.

"Emily!" Paige quickly followed her and grabbed her arm to turn her around. "Please…"

"I liked you, okay? Maybe I didn't like you as much as I had liked Alison, but there are reasons for that. But I happened to care enough for you that I wanted to make this work. Maybe I had just realized that despite my attempts it wouldn't work out in the long run. Maybe I wanted to spare you the hurt of a non-fixable relationship that would only keep going on because it was forced. Maybe I thought you deserved the truth."

Paige interrupted her. "But did I ever get that?"

"We had that conversation before, countless times. I think by know you must know why things had ended the way they did. I don't have anything to add to this conversation." She made an effort to free herself from Paige's grip, but the girl didn't let go.

"I loved you. I still do", she stated with a shaky voice and glazed eyes.

Emily didn't respond and Paige simply grabbed her face and pulled her in for a kiss. Emily didn't push her away at first, she soaked in the herb smell of Paige's perfume and her face twitched at the rough touch of the other girl. It wasn't a violent kiss, but it wasn't a tender one either. It felt both wanted and forced at the same time. After a few seconds, Emily broke the kiss and looked away. "I am sorry, Paige. I hope you know that I really am. But I can't, I simply can't."

With those words she walked away once and for all.

**Aria**

When Aria arrived at the hospital, Ms. Fitzgerald and her younger son were already there, talking to Ezra's doctor. She checked her watch_. 15 minutes late. Well, one kind of a great impression I'm making_. She hesitantly walked towards them.

Wesley Fitzgerald recognized her in an instant. "Aria…" He pulled her into a tight hug. "You can't imagine how happy I am to see your face." Aria frowned. His affectionate behavior was a bit too much."

"Are there any news?" She nodded into the direction of Ezra's room.

"I dunno yet. My mother's still talking to the doctors. But I think I overheard them saying that his conditions have improved."

Aria took a deep breath. She felt so relieved at that moment, that she had the urge to kiss Wes right there and then. But then again, this would probably lead to an unpleasant reaction from Ms. Fitzgerald, who was standing merely a few meters away.

"Wow, you look like you're going to faint" Wes noticed.

"No, … no I am just so happy to hear that he is getting better."

Wes smiled, but he didn't seem as happy as he should be. Aria found that he almost looked a bit disappointed.

"Hey, if you're not busy afterwards, maybe we could grab a coffee?" She suggested in the desperate effort to cheer him up.

She reckoned that there might still be some uncertain feelings that he had for her and with Ezra gone, he thought that he would be the first go-to for her to compensate her feeling of emptiness.

He nodded. "Sure, I'd love to."

"Oh, Aria, I already thought you wouldn't come anymore" Ms. Fitzgerald approached her, her tone friendly, but her facial expression cold and derogatory.

"Yeah, I am sorry, I was a little late", she responded apologetically. She felt so incredibly uncomfortable around that woman.

Ms. Fitzgerald put on a fake smile. "No problem, my dear. Have you heard already? His brain activity has increased. They're hoping to wake him up soon."

Aria felt tears trickle from the corners of her eyes. This time Ms. Fitzgerald's smile almost looked genuine when she noticed the girl's reaction.

Aria was so full of emotions, that she even considered rethinking what she had just recently said to Hanna.

**Spencer**

Spencer was busy with writing an English essay when a sudden noise attracted her attention.

She scanned the room. Her parents were at work and Melissa was presumably at the shopping center with friends of hers. Spencer frowned. She slowly rose from her seat, eyes focused on the door. She moved to the kitchen counter and took a knife from one of the drawers.

She felt a little stupid though. Why would anyone break into her house in broad daylight?

She cautiously laid the knife on the counter and headed towards the front door. When she opened it, she shrieked in surprise.

They were hugging so tightly that they almost couldn't breathe properly, but none of them cared at that moment. They were just happy to be reunited again.

Toby Cavanaugh had been away for a while to help get Spencer's sister back to Rosewood in order to support her younger sibling. He had received an anonymous tip about A's whereabouts and stayed in London to look for them. However, whoever had send the tip didn't really seem to know that A was always one step ahead.

However, right now at that very moment, none of this was important to him. He soaked in the fruity smell of Spencer's perfume, clinging to the girl like it was a matter of life and death.

"I've missed you so much", Spencer sobbed into his T-shirt. Her emotions had overwhelmed her the second Toby had stepped into her house. They parted a little, so that they could look at each other.

"I've missed you too" Toby answered and they leaned in for a passionate kiss.

"Nevertheless there are some things you need to know", Toby said, interrupting their long awaited reunion a few minutes later.

Spencer looked at him with a questioning look. "Did you find something out while you were away?"

They sat down on the couch in the living room and Toby softly took Spencer's hands in his own.

"I received anonymous messages. I still don't know if it's A and if not, who else it could be. But that person seemed to be on the good side rather than on the bad. They gave me some information that could be important."

He retrieved a few sheets of paper from his leathern shoulder bag. "Here."

Spencer looked at them one by one. They seemed to be similar to the letters she had received.

Most of them were information about A's possible whereabouts, which Toby seemed to have investigated already, but without success. However there were a few that piqued her interest.

"_Your mother's death wasn't an accident. They know."_

"_You need more than one to shut another one down."_

"_It all leads back to one place."_

The last one had a post-it on it that said "Radley?"

Spencer looked at Toby and pointed to the piece of paper in her hands. "You think they are really talking about Radley?"

Toby nodded. "I wouldn't know another place that would be of such great importance in this case. My mother was at Radley's, Mona was there, some blonde who could've been Alison or CeCe was there, Wren offered to work there, … do I need to say more?

"I was there…" Spencer added, still examining the letters. "Do you have any idea who wrote these?"

Toby shook his head. "Must've been someone who was involved with the A-Team I assume. But they obviously got so sick of their game playing hence they turned to the other side. That's for you to figure out."

"Why, are you going away again?" Spencer asked in fear.

"No I am not going anywhere", Toby calmed her down.

"Good, because I will hurt you if you do" Spencer responded, jokingly but roughly punching his shoulder.

"But I still need to run some errands, since I am back for good now. Meet me tonight at my place?" He put a gentle peck on her mouth.

Spencer nodded, pulling him closer for a more fierce kiss. "See you tonight."

She accompanied him to the door and once again their lips met, longing for each other's body heat.

When Toby took off, Spencer stayed at the open door for a minute, her eyes wandering through the area when they suddenly stopped at an unknown figure behind the curtains of the DiLaurentis house. She definitely spotted blonde hairs, but then again she had been wrong before.

With a frown, she vanished into her house.

**Emily**

"You look exhausted" Alison noticed when Emily returned to the cottage.

Emily sighed in response. "I just went through an intense conversation with Paige."

Alison raised her brows. She seemed somewhat uncomfortable at hearing pigskin's name.

"And how did it go?" Alison observed Emily going to the fridge and retrieving two sandwiches.

"You want one?" She sat down next to Alison.

"No thanks." (A)

Emily unpacked the sandwich and took a great bite off it.

"Well… we broke up a week ago. She didn't take it very well, and wanted to sort some things out."

"Why did you break up in the first place?"

"Uh … " Emily hesitated. She didn't really want Alison to know that Paige knew of her being still alive. "We just didn't see a future together. At least that was what I had thought. Apparently, she still had the feeling we could work things out and move on, but… "

"Sometimes it is better for both sides if one lets go", Alison answered.

Emily nodded. "Yes. I don't think I've made a wrong decision. But naturally it'll take time until Paige will come to terms with that." She paused for a moment, then changed the topic. "Anyway, I think we also have something to work out, don't we?" She tried to address the matter from yesterday.

Alison sighed. "Emily, I have made up my mind just like you did with Paige. As I've said, sometimes it is better for both sides if one lets go."

"Please explain to me how running away is any different from hiding? A has the needed tools to track you down wherever you are, it doesn't make a big difference if you are in New York or Rosewood. However, if you stay, we can help you. Together we are stronger." (E)

"I am pulling you all into this. Helping me makes you possible targets." (A)

"We've been that all along. A has started tormenting us right after you disappeared. There is no possible compromise with them. They obviously want us all to be gone or else they won't stop."

"But that was just Mona!_ This_ is different."

"Do you want my honest opinion? My honest opinion is that the second you are gonna step out of that door, A is gonna kill you." Emily knew she sounded harsh, but Alison needed to be convinced that her decision would put her into greater danger than she was in right now.

"Sooner or later they'll finish what they started anyway."

Emily sighed. She knew if Alison had made up her mind, it was incredibly difficult to have any influence on that.

Alison glimpsed at Emily who took another bite from her sandwich, grunting in annoyance, then laid it away.

The blonde wondered what she would think about right at that moment. She couldn't comprehend how someone could be as loyal as Emily. She would bet that every single one of the girls had at least considered sending her away again in order to protect themselves. It was a natural way to think for a human being. But Emily probably never had that thought. She was as loyal as a dog.

Alison let her thoughts wander. She had always sensed a special connection between the two of them, yet she couldn't describe the way she felt about the other girl. It ranged from completeness and comfort when she was around her, to abandonment and emptiness when she wasn't.

Alison mentally went back to the first time she and Emily had kissed. It hadn't aroused her nor had it meant more to her than a plain sign of affection between two very close friends. But then again it hadn't felt weird or anything like that either. On the contrary, it had felt as if everything fell into place at that moment. But when they broke apart, nothing had changed, at least not for Alison.

She wanted to try something, but the mere thought of it made her heart race. She moved a little closer to Emily without the other girl noticing.

Out of the blue, she asked "If I leave now and never come back, what would be the last thing you would say to me?"

Emily swallowed hard. She knew very well what she would say and with asking that question Alison had practically confirmed that those feelings she was trying to deny were indeed still here – and worse, more intense than ever. She could hear her own heartbeat, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of the clock.

She turned to face Alison, who had moved significantly closer to her. She could sense the warmth of the other girl's body and inhale the rosy scent of her perfume. The feeling she got from simply looking at Alison could never be compared to the way she had felt about Paige. There was so much more intensity, craving, passion …

Alison leaned closer. "Could it be possible that I already know the answer?" Alison whispered into her ear, her breath tickling Emily's skin. She felt a shiver running down her spine when Alison reached out and put her hand on her waist.

Emily was both scared and thrilled at the same time. She closed her eyes and just let it happen.

Time seemed to come to a halt when Ali's lips softly brushed against hers, an almost unnoticeable touch. When they were about to fully meet, a sudden noise broke them apart. It was the buzzing of Emily's phone, signalizing a new text message.

"Can't resist the devil's charm, can you? - A

**Melissa Hastings**

"I told you. That was all I knew. I can't help you with this." Melissa was walking back and forth in the kitchen, her phone between her head and her shoulder. She got some salad out of the refrigerator and put it on the counter.

"I haven't talked to her in a while. I don't know." She put the plastic wrap off the bowl.

"I also didn't know anything about that. He came to get me, not the other way around." She paused for a moment and listened.

The voice on the other line couldn't be identified, but at that moment he or she seemed to be very upset about something.

Melissa still listened tensely.

"I see. Yes, I clearly understood you. But … "

She didn't get the chance to end her sentence as a click on the other line signalized that the other person had hung up.

There she was, torn between her past and the present. She knew she had done a lot of mistakes, but that didn't have to mean that she wasn't willing to make up for them. However, sometimes you only had a few chances and she had already wasted a lot of them.

She just wanted everything to be normal again. If there'd only be a way to go back in time…

**Aria**

After a delighting conversation at the Brew, Aria got into Wes' car as he offered to drive her home. She found out that he actually shared a lot with his older brother, but then again there were subtle dissimilarities that reminded her that it was still Wes she was talking to, not Ezra. You could clearly tell that there was an age difference between the two of them, not just because Wes looked a lot younger, but also because he behaved a lot younger.

He was indeed good company and when they almost kissed a year back it might've been Wes who took the initiative, but it wasn't as if she had pulled away immediately. However, back then Aria was still head over wheels with Ezra.

There was some kind of sympathy she felt towards Wes, yet she couldn't really classify her feeling as 'possibly more than a friendship". But then again she was a very unstable state right now due to the recent events and she couldn't quite tell whether she could keep herself under control or not.

The car came to a halt and parked outside the Montgomery's house. They both exited and Wes accompanied Aria to her front door.

"I just want to let you know, that I had a great time tonight" he said. "I really do like you. And my brother was lucky to have you by his side", he added, smiling at her as innocently as possible.

"Yes, I had a great time to", Aria responded. She examined him more closely. _Hm, he sure is kind of cute. _

_The way he looked at her with eyes like a deer. _

"Would you push me away if I kissed you?" He suddenly asked.

Aria opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't really know what to answer. She was sure of her feelings for Ezra, even though her rationality told her to drop him like a hot potato after what he had done to her.

When Wes came a little closer, her mind automatically shut down. Maybe it was compensation, maybe she did like him, maybe it was something completely else … at that moment, she didn't care.

Their lips met hesitantly, but soon ached for more. Little did they know, that someone was following their romance from across the street.

Their kisses became rougher as time proceeded and Aria slowly but surely realized what was happening. She pulled away from the young male and looked ashamedly to the floor. "I think I should go now."

Wes nodded. He gently kissed her on her forehead and made his way back to his car. He looked back one more time, before he eventually took off.

A familiar noise came out of Aria's pocket. New text message.

One's gone, take the next one. -A

**The girls**

At 10pm the girls gathered at the lodge to discuss whether anyone of them had new information regarding the A-team. Spencer had informed them about Toby's return, but they decided to make it a girl's round only. However she would visit him right after to spend the rest of the night with him. Mona was invited to come too, but she was allegedly working things out with Aria's brother Mike. They'd check that later one, just to make sure Mona wasn't changing teams again.

"So, what do we have?" Spencer started the conversation.

Aria and Emily looked at the floor. Both of them received a message, but showing the content to the others would also mean telling them about something they didn't really feel comfortable talking about … yet.

"Oookay not all at once. Well, as you all know I talked to Toby today who was away in London. And he seemed to have received letters from someone giving him anonymous tips on A."

They all raised their eyebrows. Especially Alison seemed to be quite agitated about finding out what the letters were about. "What did you find out then?" She urged to know.

"Well, to conclude, we know that A has a definite connection to Radley and apparently to Toby's mom too. And we are not sure about this, but another message might have indicated that there are definitely more people behind 'A' than one. So, what we should be looking for are all people who could have possibly had something against you … something that would make a person want to kill you."

_Well, who's got the list?_ Hanna thought, but she didn't say anything due to Alison's presence. The girl however probably thought the same thing.

"We can proceed on the assumption that this person had been a resident at Radley sometime and is in some way connected to Toby's mother. So, who do we have?" Spencer floated the question.

"Mona would be the obvious answer. Can we assume that she is sure out of the A-game?" Aria contributed her idea.

"Really good question. There is no way in hell I am ever gonna completely trust that girl. But I am almost one hundred per cent sure she's not upper A. But there is a great chance that she knows who it is. Either she simply does not want to tell us or she's afraid of them" Spencer responded.

"What about CeCe? I mean she just pranked Ali's mom that time, but what if she had stayed at Radley before?" Hanna suggested.

"CeCe definitely has something to do with all of this. After all, she might be one of the few persons who knows of A's identity."(S)

"Who can we actually rule out?" Emily questioned.

"Yeah, that's another good question." (S)

"Noel is definitely innocent" Ali interjected.

"Is there a chance that you'll ever tell us Noel's secrets?" Hanna looked at Alison with a rather stern look on her face.

"It's complicated" Ali responded indifferently.

"Hey guys, I almost forgot to tell you, but I think I saw someone at the DiLaurentis house today" Spencer suddenly brought up.

"So what? Might've been Jason? Might've been Kenneth?" (H)

"No. It was someone with blonde hair, and I guess since you definitely don't want to be seen, we can rule you out, Ali." (S)

"Except CeCe, who – for all we know – is sitting in jail right now, there are no other options, right? I mean, that person may as well have worn a wig, who knows, with A practically everything is possible…" (H)

"Maybe I just saw … something. I dunno. Right now I am not sure what's true and what's not anymore." (S)

"I know how it feels like …" Alison responded. She glimpsed at Emily, then looked at the other girls and lastly out of the window. "But I guess that's exactly what they want …."

**A**

Jason DiLaurentis looked right, then left. He made sure no one was following him, but well, you could never be sure these days. He turned around to check whether the curtains of his parent's house were closed. _Good, so no one can see her_, he thought and proceeded to walk, when he suddenly felt a stinging pain in the back of his head. In the split of a second everything around him went pitch black.

A black hooded figure eyed his unconscious body and checked his pulse. Then they took him by the ankles and pulled him to a nearby parked car. They tried to lift him into the car trunk but they weren't strong enough. With a wave of their hand they commanded another person to come over and help. With their combined strength they put his body in. Then they nodded at each other and got into the car.

A coughing could be heart from the trunk, when they car drove away.

**I hope you guys had as much fun reading this as I had writing it! The next chapter is already on its way  
**

**And after Chap 5 I have something special planned for you (At first I wanted to post the special chapter right after that one, but right now I wanna continue with the storyline)**

**I have so many ideas for the upcoming chapters, so let me just say, that this is definitely just the beginning! **

**Oh, and don't be sad, the Emison kiss will eventually happen ;) You'll just have to be a little patient … **

**- C**


	5. cAptivity

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 & SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **With Alison back in Rosewood, everyone's world is turning upside down. Aria is still trying to cope with the fact that Ezra is in a coma, Emily fights some old feelings, Spencer gets anonymous clues on A's identity and Hanna finds herself in a love triangle. Also, Alison will have to deal with everyone's reaction to her reappearance.

* * *

**Previously on Pretty Little Liars… Emily made things clear with Paige and was confirmed that her feelings for Alison had never went away. Aria received some good news on Ezra's condition, but got a little carried away with his younger brother Wesley. Spencer finally sees Toby again who has some interesting clues for her. Jason gets a hit in the head and kidnapped by two anonymous persons.**

* * *

_**So here it is, Chapter 5! I've read all of your feedback and since I don't want to upload an extra document for the guest reviews, I am going to incorporate my answers in this one. So if you are not one of my guest reviewers with a wish/question, you can simply proceed with reading the Chapter and skip the next paragraphs**_

_**xxx Answers xxx**_

_**So, first of all, Wesley and Diane Fitzgerald have been in the previous chapter so since there is some story between Aria and Wes and Ezra is still hospitalized they'll appear a few times. However, as we can learn from my story description above, Wesley x Aria will not be a long-term relationship. #Ezriaalltheway! However, there was one thing which I will definitely take into consideration, namely Ezra's father to also have a short appearance.**_

_**Secondly, someone asked me to bring in Melissa. She has been in the last chapter, even though just for a very brief moment. However, she will play a very big role as the story goes on.**_

_**Thirdly Haleb WILL happen, but naturally it'll take time until both Hanna and Caleb have figured everything out, and Hanna's not gonna ditch Travis right away, because she's not that kind of person. But it won't be very long from this chapter on until they'll finally reunite.**_

_**Fourthly CeCe and the Black Widow also play a very important role in this story. They'll appear more often as the story proceeds. The Black Widow will be revealed in the finale of this story, but I will probably make another Fanfiction "SE06" where there will be more story about her involvement.**_

_**As for Courtney DiLaurentis, I am not going to reveal yet whether she'll be part of this story or not. Same goes for deaths of characters. All I can say is that the next person dying will be a couple of chapters ahead, so I think you might be able to figure out for yourself whether that person will be Jason or not. **_

_**But now, without further ado, Chapter 5!**_

* * *

**Alison**

When she woke up, there was only one thing that occupied her mind. _Run, run as fast as you can._ The words resounded in her head time after time, whilst she silently gathered her belongings and stuffed them into a tiny leathern bag. She wrapped herself in a black coat, tied up her hair and covered them with a hood – a kind of camouflage that would hopefully suffice to keep her identity a secret.

A billion thoughts crowded her mind, when she slipped through the door. She could sense that anxiety was slowly but surely building up inside her. She shuddered at the icy coldness that greeted her as soon as she exited the lodge. Fog patches covered a major part of the area in front of her which made it almost impossible to watch out for possible dangers.

She sucked in a deep breath and risked the first step. A silent howl came from somewhere in the distance. She flinched at the sudden sound. _Come on, Alison, you can do this_, she tried to calm herself, but the mere possibility of A being out there somewhere, lurking in the bushes, ready to pounce at any given moment, made her hair stand on end.

Her cerulean eyes reflected sheer panic when she scanned the area around her attentively. The autumn leaves beneath her feet rustled with every step she took, and from time to time birds could be heard, communicating with each other in various pitches.

A click resounded and she whirled around abruptly only to find absolutely nothing behind her. Alison frowned. It had clearly sounded as if someone had accidentally stepped on a twig.

Her pulse quickened and her heart pounded against her chest like a raging animal. She could swear that someone was in her proximity. The tension felt like needles pricking her skin. A sudden nausea almost overcame her and her vision slightly blurred.

Another click. It needed nothing more than that to make her press forward with an instantaneous rush of strength and energy. Breathing heavily, she sprinted a slalom through the woods, occasionally tripping over roots hidden beneath the foliage.

It didn't take long until whoever was behind her, started to stick to her heels. She could clearly hear the sound of quickening footsteps merely a few meters behind her.

She tried to increase her speed, but it was too late. A single pair of hands emerged from nowhere and covered her mouth, preventing any attempt to call for help.

She violently tried to free herself from whoever was keeping her in captivity, but it only made the other person hold on to her more fiercely.

She eventually capitulated and her body went numb.

Then all of the sudden, her attacker let out a muffled moan. By the rather deep sound of it, Alison reckoned it was a male.

She could see a black hooded figure stumbling away rapidly in her peripheral vision. Then she turned to see who had hurried to her rescue.

* * *

"Wasn't it exactly as I told you?" Emily reprimanded the blonde who was still shaking with fear.

She had brought her back to the lodge right after she had found her in the arms of what seemed to be the same person they girls had seen on the rooftop when Ezra got shot. But then again, a black clothed person could be anyone from A to Z, even someone whose face they hadn't seen before.

For all they know, the A-Team could be an alliance with dozens of members or there could only be a handful of them. Fact was, there never was a thing they could say for sure.

"What were you thinking?!" She almost screamed at the other girl, simultaneously supplying her with a mug of hot chocolate.

"Here, you need to elevate your temperature a little. Your skin is cold as ice." She went away briefly only to come back with a woolen sheet.

Alison looked like every drop of blood had drained from her body.

"No, seriously, where did you think you would go?" She sat down beside the girl and looked at her intensively, demanding an answer.

"I … " Alison directed her gaze at the floor. "I thought I would make it through the woods and then …"

"And then what? Where would you have gone? Back to Noel?" (E)

Alison didn't answer. She looked away and tried to hold back an imminent flood of tears.

"I don't know, okay? I feel as if I am bound in chains and A is just waiting for the perfect moment to take advantage of that."

"Alison! You are way too fragile to cope with this situation on your own. You need help, _our_ help."

"Maybe that ain't enough" Alison said bluntly, her face suddenly expressionless.

Emily swallowed hard at that remark. She was giving all of her energy and time away in order to protect the girl, she spent most of her time sleeping on a wooden floor in a freezing cold lodge, and then that was everything she got back. Without any further word, she stood up and went into the kitchen, leaving Alison alone with a rather unfamiliar feeling.

At first she had felt angry at herself for being so careless and naïve, but then her anger had subsided and the only thing left was pure emptiness.

"I am sorry" she said eventually, almost inaudible for the girl in the kitchen.

"What did you say?" The girl with the mocha complexion emerged from the kitchen. Her dark eyes scrutinized the blonde sitting on the couch, clinging to her mug.

"I am sorry" she repeated. "That came out a little different than I intended to", she added.

Emily hesitated. She didn't say anything, just looked at the other girl, trying to put a finger on her own feelings.

Just a day ago it had felt as if things would head into a direction she never would've expected them to go, but right now it just felt as if there was a thick, concrete wall between the two of them.

She missed that connection they once had, but there were so many things threatening to disrupt it even more and more as time proceeded.

The events of yesterday had ignited her flame of hope once again, but even though the fantasy she was still harboring might have a slight chance of becoming reality, Emily would never give up her friendship just to satisfy a long suppressed desire. Beyond that, she had dispatched Alison's ambivalent behavior towards her as simple curiosity. She couldn't get herself to believe that there was more behind it than the excitement of something 'new' and unknown.

Emily had spent her whole night contemplating her almost kiss with Alison. She eventually came to the conclusion that it hadn't meant anything in particular. Human curiosity, no more, no less.

The instantaneous rush of emotions she experienced at said moment were troubling and they frightened her in so many aspects. But Emily had managed to look at things from a more objective perspective and it made her realize that she was just grasping at nothing when she would hold on to this illusion of her and Alison being more than they were now and have ever been.

"It's okay", she finally said and sat back down next to the blonde. "I understand that all of this can be quite overwhelming at some times. But you are strong, I know that you are. You will get through this."

Alison looked at her. Emily couldn't quite tell the emotions behind her facial expression.

"I wish I could think as positive as you. But I am thankful one of us at least is optimistic." She smiled half-heartedly.

"Well, one of us has to be." (E)

**Spencer**

"This is nice" Spencer muttered into Toby's ear, softly nibbling on his earlobe. She was huddled up to the male and made little circles with her finger on his bare chest.

"I could wake up to this every morning", he answered, placing a gentle peck on her forehead and pulling her a little closer. He took in the pleasurable feeling of the warmth radiating from her body and sighed in content.

"Do you want some breakfast? I have a marvelous new recipe I am dying to try out" Spencer asked with an eager spark in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead. I'll get the paper in the meantime."

Spencer rose from the bed, yawning and stretching, and then scuffed into the kitchen. Toby watched her lean figure vanish through the door and smiled at her messy hair. He lifted himself off the bed shortly after and headed towards the front door.

What awaited him on the other side was more than shocking. He bowed down to lift the paper off the floor, making sure that he wasn't imagining this. He examined the title page with a frown. How could this have happened? Still bewildered and also subtly worried, he rolled it up and reentered the house.

* * *

"Did you know about this?" He tossed the paper on the kitchen counter, making Spencer flinch at the unexpected noise.

"What is it? You almost made me drop the pan." She turned away from the stove briefly to shot a glance at Toby's finding.

"Wait … what?!" She gestured that Toby should occupy the stove in the meantime, and scrutinized what the title page revealed.

_**Suspect has escaped prison**_ was printed in fat letters as a heading. Beneath it said

"The 23-year old CeCe Drake has been held in custody for the alleged murder of Detective Darren Wilden and her possible involvement in both the death of Alison DiLaurentis and her recently deceased mother Jessica DiLaurentis. It has now been revealed that she has managed to escape her cell. Her current whereabouts are not known to the police yet. It is presumed that she escaped yesterday noon."

Spencer stopped reading at this point. It was enough to know that CeCe Drake was on the loose again. The woman's motive was still unclear to the girls. Which side was she on? Was she working for or against A? Or did she have an own agenda, much like Mona? Speaking of which …

"This is … somewhat alarming" Spencer concluded, looking at her boyfriend worriedly. "You found some things out. Do you think CeCe is part of the A-team or not?"

"To be quite honest, I have no idea. She'd have reasons to be, but then again she used to be one of Ali's closest allies. She might as well have been helping her the whole time. Haven't you ever wondered why they would both wear a red coat? I have just recently thought about that. Couldn't it be a trick to mess with A?" (T)

"I doubt that CeCe is the kind of person who would go as far just to prove her loyalty. Interesting theory though." (S)

"What are we gonna do about this?" (T)

"So far, there isn't anything we actually can do. At first it'd be helpful to locate her momentary hideout. Might as well be the DiLaurentis house again." Saying that out loud brought a memory back to Spencer's mind. The blonde she had just seen yesterday and thought she had hallucinated… could that have been CeCe? After all, the time would match.

She came to the decision that she would try to get in touch with Jason once more, even though the man seemed to be deliberately avoiding her and anyone else for that matter.

A familiar bleeping came out her pocket. She pulled out her phone and glanced at the display. _– Rosewood Police Department – _This definitely indicated trouble.

**Hanna**

When Hanna thought about Lucas Gottesmen, she didn't see an inherently evil person. He was just a lost kid that didn't fit into the picture of today's society hence he tried to be heard in other ways.

His behavior was indeed suspicious and even though there may be other possibilities, Hanna was pretty sure that the person Lucas was talking to the other night was a member of the A-team or at least related to them.

Lucas had been there once and it wasn't too far-fetched that he would be there again since he and Alison had a troublesome past. He had every reason to hate her. However, Hanna didn't suspect him to have anything to do with her alleged death or anyone's death.

Regardless of that, Hanna had to get to the bottom of this.

She fumbled for her phone in her bag and as soon as she had found it, typed in a message.

She wasn't expecting him to give away everything he knew, but Hanna had a certain way to get the things she wanted, so there would be at least something she could get out of him.

Lately Hanna had thought a lot about the recent events. Alison being back had somehow inflicted all of their lives even though they sometimes didn't notice it. It was about the little changes that came with her reappearance.

Hanna mostly noticed how Emily's behavior had changed the instant Alison had rejoined the girls. It was so obvious that the girl still hugged the idea of her and Alison being more than friends. She had always thought of Paige as being second best for Emily, some kind of filling for the whole Alison had left when she had disappeared. To be brutally honest, Hanna didn't even like Paige. The girl seemed somewhat strange to her, not to say creepy. The incident at the pool, where Paige had tried to drown Emily out of pure enviousness, was proof enough that there was something majorly wrong with this gal. But then again, after a troublesome start, their relationship had indeed developed and reached a higher level of intensity. At some point Hanna even considered that Emily really was in love with Paige. But then Alison returned, and she had clearly seen the hopeful spark in Emily's brown eyes. How was someone able to love a girl like Alison that dearly? It wasn't as if Hanna did feel some kind of friendship-like love towards Alison, even though the girls sometimes didn't get along that fine, but to be as loyal as Emily was? Especially after what Alison had done to her, done to all of them?

Hanna hadn't yet grown accustomed to the fact that the blonde was now amidst them again. Frankly, she had liked it better when it had been just the 4 of them. Not that Alison would ever dare to insult her again like she did in the past, but it had felt so much more casual and now it was just … weird. It felt like their once so incredible group dynamics slowly but surely deteriorated.

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted when her phone rang. Somewhat disconcerted, she looked at the display. – _Rosewood police department _– She had a vague feeling what this could be about.

**Jason**

He couldn't move. He couldn't scream. Nothing seemed possible in his momentary state. He looked around dazedly, his surroundings were hazy and blurred. From what he could tell, he was in a rather large, sparse room with dim light and greyish colored, concrete walls. There were a few silhouettes of what could've been furnishing, but his vision was too weak to completely identify them as such.

He managed to lift his upper body a little. However, only a split second after he had to lie down again, because of the disrupting pain that streamed through his body. A muffled screamed escaped his lips and a single tear dropped from his eyes to the cold floor.

He could hear a noise from the distance which he couldn't quite classify since his senses were mildly impaired at the moment.

A creak appeared as if someone was opening a door somewhere, but Jason couldn't turn to scan the area. He suddenly felt frightened. His heartbeat quickened and he felt sweat beads forming on his forehead.

He heard footsteps, presumably heading in his direction. His suspicion was confirmed when someone bowed down to him and violently grabbed him by his hair in order to pull his head off the ground. He moaned in pain, but again his voice was depressed by the duct tape covering his mouth. Every muscle in his body seemed to ache but he couldn't tell where the pain originated from.

His eyes tried to identify his tormentor, but the only thing he could perceive was a figure dressed completely in black, their head and face covered by a hood.

Another stinging pain jolted through his body when the anonymous person ripped off the duct tape. However, he felt somewhat relieved as he could now finally breathe properly again.

After a few quick and uneven pants he felt like he was going to vomit right there and then.

Another person seemed to have entered his torture chamber. From what he could see, it was a woman, lean and tall, clothed in a red coat and with long, blonde hair. A few possible suspects who resembled her, shot through his head.

When the person eventually turned to reveal their identity, Jason knew not only who they were, but also that his fate was sealed. In this sick game, knowledge meant death. When he thought his last hour had come, he gasped: "I should've known it was you."

**Caleb**

Raindrops sprinkled the window panes of the bus, heading in the direction of Rosewood.

Caleb Rivers' head was pressed against it and he curiously followed the stream of water one of the raindrops left whilst running down the pane.

Next to him sat a girl with short, fawn hair and a slightly darker skin tone, especially in comparison to the usually pale boy.

"How do you feel?" She asked him, comfortingly touching his shoulder.

"I am not sure how I am supposed to feel." He ran his fingers through his lank, dark brown hair, his look attached to his feet.

"Are you scared?" The girl probed.

He hesitated for a moment, before answering. "No, I am not scared. I am just unsure of her reaction. It's been a while, after all." (C)

The girl nodded understandingly, retrieving her hand from his arm. "You did the right thing, and she will understand that", she said.

"Of course she will. But you know, time passed, and I am just hoping that she didn't compensate her loss of me with someone else while I wasn't here." (C)

"Even if that is the case, her feelings for you have definitely not faded. They just need to be awakened again. Do you know what I mean?"

"Miranda … It's… it's complicated. You know, Hanna and I have been through a lot and there were things in both of our lives that made this relationship hard to maintain at that time. Many of those things we haven't worked out properly yet." (C)

"I understand where you are coming from. I totally do. I just don't think that feelings which are as intense will ever vanish just because of some conflicts. You_ will_ eventually work this out together. And that is just going to be you and her, watching the sunset, hands entwined, looking into a wonderful future together." (M)

Caleb couldn't help but smile at this imaginary scene. He looked at Miranda with a genuine smile. "Thank you."

**The girls**

When the 4 girls arrived at the police station, they already knew what was lying ahead of them.

"God, I can't believe this is happening again", Hanna moaned. "I just hope it doesn't take too long."

"Guys, before we go into there, I have to tell you something" Spencer announced secretively.

They 4 pierced her with demanding looks.

"CeCe has escaped prison." (S)

"What?! How in the world did she do that?" (H)

"Beats me. All I know is that this raises my suspicion that she might be A or at least be involved with them." (S)

"So, do you think they gonna … ?" Aria didn't get the chance to finish their sentence, as Detective Holbrook exited the department and greeted the 4.

"Hello, ladies. Mind to come in?" He led them through the door into 4 different interrogation rooms, so that none of them could have the least bit of an influence on what the other one was saying.

**Aria**

The first to be questioned was Aria.

"Ms. Montgomery … as I've heard, you already tried to escape my colleague?"

Aria didn't respond.

"That's what I had thought." He sat down across from her at the table.

"Is there any reason why you did it? And silence isn't an answer." (Det.)

"He was asking me about my private life which had absolutely nothing to do with the case", Aria said matter-of-factly.

"Well, since you and Mr. Fitz have been involved romantically and broke up just a couple of weeks ago, it just makes us think whether this had anything to do with the fact that he got shot. You know, there are a lot of cases where another man helps a girl to get rid of her lovers from the past."

"I loved him! I would've never done anything to hurt him like that." Aria regretted her emotional outburst only seconds after. She cleared her throat. "He knew something. Something he shouldn't have known. That is _why_ someone tried to kill him."

"Interesting … Do you mind telling me more about this?"

**Spencer**

"One of the last persons to visit CeCe Drake at prison was you if I have heard correctly, Ms. Hastings." (Det.)

"Yes, Sir." Spencer nodded.

"So, were you a close friend of her? Or …?" (Det.)

"No… a friend of mine used to be." (S)

"Are you referring to Alison DiLaurentis?" (Det.)

"Yes I am." (S)

"Do you know anything about the rumor that your friend is still alive?" (Det.)

"I haven't heard of that, no, Sir." Spencer managed to stay composed or it at least made it look like she was, even though the tension was killing her on the inside.

"You sure?" He put a photograph on the table, depicturing the 4 girls aligned in a row, dressed in baroque fashion, in front of them no one other than Alison DiLaurentis in her universally known red coat.

Spencer swallowed hard. She indeed remembered that scenario. It was in Ravenswood, when Alison had first revealed herself to them. It was such an intense moment, filled with numerous emotions. It was difficult to contain herself, being confronted with this memory again, but she handled to maintain her composure.

"I am sorry, Sir, but I don't know about this picture. It is obviously a fake."

**Alison**

In the meantime Alison was busying herself with reading through the news on the internet, processing the fact that CeCe had escaped prison. She still didn't know whether her old friend was to be trusted or not. She hadn't heard from her in a while and even though she had killed Wilden in order to protect Alison, she couldn't tell whether the girl was a two sided player or not.

Emily wrote her a message approximately half an hour ago that they were asked to the police station to answer questions regarding CeCe, Ezra and her mother. She was worried about whether the police knew that she was still alive, because if so, in their naïve opinion, they would want her to reveal herself to Rosewood and to practically put herself on the line for A. And then all they had to do was to pull the trigger.

She felt something vibrating in her pocket and fished out her cell. New message. That sign never bore good news

"How many lives does it take to get you out of your hiding place?" A

But that wasn't all. Attached to the text message was a photograph. It took Alison a while to recognize the familiar features of her brother. Her eyes widened at his condition. Jason DiLaurentis was tied up, gagged and obviously in great pain. His shirt was stained with blood, his hair was soaked with sweat. His eyes were watery, indicating the torture that had been inflicted on his body.

Alison tried to hold back her tears, but they flood came naturally. A stinging pain went through the left side of her chest. She struggled for air. She knew she had to be silent so that no one would know of her residing in Ezra's lodge, but right now every suppressed emotion of hers just surfaced.

It was not only the sight of Jason, but the fact, that A had power over every aspect of her life. They tried to kill her, then they killed their mother and now they are about to kill her brother too. And _that_ was simply too much for her to take.

Still trying to control her breathing rhythm, she dialed Emily's number.

**The girls**

Their interrogations were put on a hold, as something had abruptly occurred, requiring the presence of their questioners.

The 4 girls were seated in one of the main offices, observing the officers around them dealing with their daily routines.

Spencer was the first rising to speak. "They have a picture of the blonde princess and their 4 companions at the town of black birds", she whispered.

Hanna looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Seriously, Spenc? What the fuck?"

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Figure it out. You know what I mean."

"I get it", Aria interjected. "But how they hell did they get this?"

"Well, my guesses are on the big bad drAgon", Hanna responded.

"Shh, guys… Listen." Emily pointed to two officers, one of them an overweight middle aged man with a funny looking beard, the other one slim and tall. They were only a few meters away from them and their voices could be heard clearly.

"Ya, so I've heard. But we can't unless Mr. DiLaurentis is going to give us his acceptance." (Det. 1)

"Don't we have enough evidence to check the body without his confirmation?" (Det.2)

"Nah, not according to the rules, John, not according to the rules." (Det. 1)

The girls looked at each other in shock.

"Why wouldn't Kenneth want to know whether his daughter is alive or not? Do you guys think he knows that she is indeed still alive or that he is simply covering for his deceased wife? Which wouldn't make any sense since she bit dust."(A)

"You guys remember when Kenneth used to freak out on me because I told him I saw Ali the night Mona and I were trying to 'talk to the ghosts', right?" (H)

They nodded.

"Well, what if that was only because he _knew_ that Alison was alive and he didn't want his mother to know?" (H)

"You do have a point there." (S)

"Excuse me for a minute", Emily said, raising off her seat and heading to the toilet.

Upon checking her phone she was shocked to find a couple of missed calls from Alison. She quickly dialed the girl's number.

**Emily**

"What happened?" Emily questioned, eyes filled with panic at the sight of Alison, curled up on the couch, her eyes reddened due to the crying.

She had driven to the lodge as soon as possible when she had received Alison's call. The police had postponed their interrogation anyway, because of a case that came up while they were there, so she had been excused immediately.

Alison just stared apathetically at Emily in response. She didn't move nor say anything.

The other girl sat down next to her, pulling her into a hug. It felt like embracing a piece of rigid wood.

Alison was indeed somewhat paralyzed. The shock had set in so surprisingly, that her body was unable to cope with it. Obviously, its natural solution was to stay still for some time, completely still.

"Alison, you have to talk to me." Emily grabbed the girl by her shoulders.

In some weak effort, Alison turned her head to her phone, indicating that this was the reason for her reaction. She hoped inwardly that Emily would get her subtle hint.

She did. Emily scrolled through Alison's messages and opened the one from the anonymous number.

She almost dropped the device when she discovered Alison's source of shock.

It suddenly dawned on her how the girl must feel at that moment. She reckoned that there was no way, Alison could go on without professional help. In that instant she remembered a little secret she'd been keeping to herself for a while now, that might help her with this matter.

She quickly dialed a number, waiting for the person on the other line to pick up the phone.

"We're gonna get you some help", she said to Alison, softly stroking the other girl's shoulder. Seeing her in this state almost made her cry herself.

**Hanna**

"I can't. Got some stuff to take care off. – Lucas"

Hanna put aside the phone, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Little bitch", she muttered.

The guy had sparked her deepest suspicions even more with his ignorant behavior.

She wondered what he had meant by "stuff". Hanna couldn't figure out what he was up too, but she was even surer now that he was involved in the A-game again. Why else would he come back to a place that harbored his most terrible nightmares?

A sudden knock on the door caught her off guard.

She was flabbergasted, when she opened it up find a familiar, female face there, smiling at her like knocking on _her _door was the most normal thing to do in the world.

**Ezra**

Her touch was almost startling. Sudden, harsh, demanding. Her soft lips upon his, tasting salty from all the tears. Her arms around his neck, clinging to him like something could rip them apart at any minute. Her tongue bagged for entrance and he surrendered. A rush of hormones went through his body at the feel of her body pressed tightly to his own. He wanted to stop time, capture this moment and put it away somewhere safe.

He knew it was just a dream, but did that mean he was alive or was this how the paradise high above the clouds would feel like? Because if so, he'd prefer to stay.

**A**

_When the lights went out, it was his time to strike._ A dark figure wandered through the hallways of the hospital. The main part, located on the opposite side of this building, was still lightened which he could see through the window.

_Oh how he had missed this place_. Black gloves wandered over the glazed doors of the hospital chambers.

But there was no time for reminiscing right now. He was here to get something done.

At room 509 he came to a halt and peaked inside. _Gotcha_.

He pulled out a little glass bottle with a transparent fluid inside. He put in on the bedside table and retrieved another thing from his pocket. He revealed a terrifyingly big syringe which he put into the glass bottle and filled it with the highest possible volume. Then he walked towards the IV bag of the patient situated in this room. _This was as easy as one, two, three,_ he thought and put the fluid into the bag.

He packed up his stuff and vanished as quickly as he had come.

Within seconds, an alarm went off and the lights went on. Before he eventually left the building he looked behind his shoulder to see a couple of doctors hurrying to room 509.

* * *

**So, I hope you like this chapter, I am already thrilled to work on the next one! Leave some reviews, feedback etc. I am always happy to read your thoughts! **

**- C**


	6. Decisions

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 & SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **With Alison back in Rosewood, everyone's world is turning upside down. Aria is still trying to cope with the fact that Ezra is in a coma, Emily fights some old feelings, Spencer gets anonymous clues on A's identity and Hanna finds herself in a love triangle. Also, Alison will have to deal with everyone's reaction to her reappearance.

* * *

**Previously on Pretty Little Liars… Jason is held in captivity by A and upon finding this out, Alison suffered from a nervous breakdown. The girls were questioned by the police and found that CeCe had escaped prison. Hanna tried to get in touch with Lucas but failed. However someone else wanted to get in touch with her again. And who was the mysterious person in the hospital?**

* * *

_**So to all of you guys who have been watching Ravenswood or are at least informed about the storyline, in my story these things will not have happened. Just wanted to let you know.**_

_**I had sooo many ideas recently (for Season 5 AND Season 6) and I can't wait to present them to you. To give you a little taste, I am offering a sort of question round to those of you who want – but don't expect me to answer anything like "Who is A?" or "Who killed Ali?". I am rather talking about questions like "Is head A male or female?" etc. **_

_**And to the one's who are asking whether CeCe is redcoat … Yes, she is indeed, but that doesn't say anything about her being evil, right? After all, Alison had a red coat as well, and maybe there are even more people with red coats. All I can say is that CeCe escaped because she received help from somebody.**_

_**You'll find out about this eventually but it would be boring to give it all away now, wouldn't it be?**_

* * *

**The Fitzgerald's**

A team of physicians stormed the patient's room, armed with various medical equipment. A monotonous bleeping sound could be heard and in the next second 2000 volts jolted through Ezra Fitz's body in a desperate attempt to take him back from the verge of death.

"One…two…three." A second jolt followed quickly. Still no vital sign. "Charge to 2500." This time the ECG curve showed some activity.

"Got him", one of the doctors said and laid the defibrillator aside. "What a lucky guy", he whispered to himself, observing the various devices that monitored the man's current medical condition. "Talk to Dr. Harpersworth. The patient needs to be checked on an hourly basis, at least for today. Dr. Genpole, we need a blood sample and a tox-screening. Something tells me that this was an intended emergency."

The following day, the Fitzgerald family was ordered to the hospital to be informed about the outcome of Ezra's blood analysis and his momentary condition. Dianne was very surprised to find that her former husband had chosen to accompany them. Mr. William Fitzgerald was tall, lean and dressed in a black tuxedo and wore a blue tie. His hair was flecked with grey, but his facial features made him look a lot younger than he actually was. He appeared cold and standoffish and walking aside him in silence was everything but comfortable for Dianne. The youngest member of the Fitzgerald family, Wesley, was perplexed to see his father again after such a rather long time. However he didn't dare to invade his privacy by asking questions about how his life had been since he had left. Although he actually had every right to ask this kind of questions.

They arrived at the hospital just in time to meet with Ezra's doctor. Dianne was ushered into his room together with her son and William. He closed the door after them and pulled the curtains in front of the glass.

"What is all this secrecy about? Why did you want to meet with me?" Diane inquired to know, a little bit outraged.

"Ms. Fitzgerald, the information I am going to tell your family now is confidential and I must ask you to promise not to forward this to a third party."

Dianne knitted her brows in obvious confusion and hesitated for a second, before she answered. "Yes, we promise." She glanced at her son and William. They both nodded in acceptance and repeated her answer to fully assure the doctor.

"Good." He made a long pause. "Your son, Ms. Fitzgerald, has been the victim of an attack. We believe to have found traces of Potassium chloride in his blood stream. There is no possibility that it was delivered to his body in a natural way, so we assumed someone must have injected it. Based on our assumption we ordered our security team to check the camera footage taken between 22pm yesterday night and 2am in the morning. What we discovered was a black hooded figure at one of the entrance areas. The camera footage for this section of the hospital was missing, because someone had obviously gotten to the cameras before they even had the chance to record something. That is all the evidence we got so far, but the police has already been contacted to investigate this further. However it is our obligation to inform you about the incident as this will probably elongate Mr. Fitzgerald's healing process."

Dianne turned paler with every sentence. Behind her, William's mouth slightly opened upon hearing the dreadful news and all Wesley could think about was that he would need to keep this away from Aria. He knew it was more than bad to think of this as an opportunity for him to free the girl from her feelings for his older brother and to take his spot instead, but he did it out of love, or so he thought.

"Hey, u up for a movie tonight? Wes" he quickly typed into his cell and forwarded it to Aria, quickly dispersing it before the doctor would think he was sharing confidential information.

**Hanna**

Hanna was still pondering why Miranda had showed up at her front door the other day. The last time the blonde had seen the girl was when she and her friends were trapped in the underground residence of Carla Grunwald in Ravenswood. And shortly after that Caleb had decided to stay there for the long-run which ultimately ended with months of processing the fact that her relationship had broken due to reasons still unknown or at least unclear to her. She reckoned that Caleb had simply fallen for someone else, maybe Miranda?

However, upon questioning her mission, Miranda simply stated that she was visiting a friend in Rosewood and decided to drop by for a short visit. When Hanna asked how she had find her house, she stayed silent and changed the topic. And if that wasn't enough, the girl had actually asked her whether she could stay here for a night or two, because a hotel would be out of her financial league. Hanna eventually agreed, even though she doubted the girl's words.

And now here they were, sitting on the kitchen table opposite of each other, sipping on freshly brewed coffee and nibbling on a Cronut.

"I think it is about time to inform you about my real agenda, Hanna" Miranda said out of the blue.

Hanna raised an eyebrow, curiously awaiting the girl's explanation.

"Is there any chance you already know why I am here?" She put down her mug and mustered the other girl.

"No…did something happen?"

"Well, before we get into this, lemme ask you a question…:"

"O…okay." Hanna looked at her in utter confusion.

"How do you feel about Caleb?"

_What? Did she just really ask that?_ Hanna clenched her fists without noticing. Her muscles tensed automatically and her facial expression turned to stone. "Why the hell are you asking?" She sounded a lot more unfriendly than she intended to.

"I … I am sorry. It's just that … he is kind of …" She looked around the room as if looking for the right words.

"Would you just finish the fucking sentence already?" Hanna urged.

"He is back in Rosewood and he wants to make amends for what he did to you" Miranda said as fast as possible, feeling kind of threatened by the blonde's sudden change of demeanor. She grabbed her coffee and slurped loudly to fill the awkward silence that had followed her revelation.

Hanna looked away in thought. She expected a million thoughts to infiltrate her mind, but to her surprise this wasn't the case. She _felt _something, but it was more of a numbness than a rush of emotion.

She took a deep breath and turned to Miranda again. "So, he is sending _you_ to calm the waves beforehand or what?"

"No… He is just… He didn't ask me to come here. It was my idea. I thought, maybe if you had someone to talk to about this first, you wouldn't say anything on impulse when you would address the matter with him personally."

Hanna laughed scornfully. "I know that he didn't want to hurt me. And I am not holding a grudge against him, but this is just ridiculous."

"Hanna… Caleb really cares about you… He had his reasons to stay in Ravenswood, and you can trust me when I say, those things didn't involve him seeing another girl."

"I want Caleb to tell me that. He will get his chance to explain everything to me. As I've said I don't hate him for what he did. Surely I had quite a rough time after he had left, but I moved on."

"Moved on as in … you found someone else?" Miranda frowned. This wasn't exactly good news for Caleb.

"Well, I am seeing someone right now. Things haven't gotten serious yet, but it's only been a couple of weeks, so yeah", she responded bluntly.

"Soooo… you aren't thinking of getting back with Caleb?" Miranda tossed the last bite of the Cronut into her mouth. She was starting to reconsider whether this had been a good idea.

"Wha… what the hell, you can't just decide that within a few minutes. I loved Caleb and maybe I still do, but I can't just jump right back into his arms, just because he has decided to reverse his decision. This will need some time. And I can't tell you what I will decide on. This is just … gosh, I need another Cronut."

She swiped another one of the pastries from a tiny basket in the middle of the table and took a big bite.

Miranda nodded understandingly. "I see. But just keep in mind, that he will always be there for you, independent on the decision that you're gonna make. He has never loved somebody as dearly as he loves you. And a love that pure and true is something rarely to be found."

"Blabla", Hanna simultaneously chewed on the last bite of her Cronut.

"Hey, I can call him if you want and you can settle this, kay?" Miranda suggested, already fishing out her phone from her pocket.

Hanna hesitated. The mere thought of seeing Caleb after all that time was making her nervous. She couldn't yet define how she felt about this … thing, that had just been revealed to her, and she was afraid she was going to say or do something in the heat of movement that she would regret later on.

However, she was dying to find out what Caleb had to say. To be quite honest, the least he owed her was an explanation.

**Emily**

Emily had been through a lot since A's first message. Of course on one hand most of the things had only led to her becoming a much stronger person, but on the other hand it had destroyed her in ways unimaginable to others. She had her friends and she used to have Paige to confide in and talk to whenever she felt that things were getting on top of her, but since those people had enough things on their own plate, Emily needed another person she could turn to.

She found that person in Dr. Anne Sullivan.

The female psychologist always seemed to carry a special interest in the 4 girls' case and she had been through a lot herself by trying to help them. Emily had kept in touch with her after she had tried hypnotherapy on her and they would occasionally write each other e-mails. Emily had sometimes asked for a private therapy session which she paid with the money she had saved up from her job at the Brew. Anne would sometimes even treated her "pro bono".

In a moment of despair, she hadn't known anyone else who could help her with Alison's current situation. They girl had clearly suffered severe mental damage from all the harassment A had done to her.

Thus the Canadian had called Dr. Sullivan in an instant and informed her in brief of what had went down in Rosewood and why she would need her help. She had been surprised to learn of Alison being still alive and the whole situation seemed to worry her a little, but she had lastly agreed on making a house-visit to talk to the distraught blonde.

Emily had then sat down next to Alison and told her that she had asked someone to help her. In the beginning, the girl seemed to be shocked about the fact that Emily was willingly giving away information about her being still alive, but when Emily explained to her that it was Dr. Sullivan she had called, she calmed down. She still hadn't said a lot yet, but she had managed to muster up a weak smile.

**Spencer**

"I haven't told you about the letters", Spencer said out of the blue, earning a confused look by her boyfriend.

She rose from her bed and made her way to the cupboard. She retrieved two envelopes from one of the drawers which were buried underneath her underwear.

"Interesting place to hide", Toby commented, suppressing a chuckle.

Spencer handed him the letters and he eyed them cautiously. "

"Do you think we've been contacted by the same person?" Spencer finally asked.

Toby pressed some air through his lips and examined the letters more closely. "The address of the P.O. is different but other than that, yeah, I think that could've been the same person."

Their investigations were interrupted by a noise coming from the front door.

"Spencer? Are you home? I forgot my keys" Melissa's voice ringed from outside.

The girl got up hesitantly, shooting Toby a few glances before heading to the door. She didn't expect her sister to come home that early and since they still couldn't exclude her as a possible A-suspect, she and Toby would need to continue their conversation elsewhere.

She turned the knob and met her sister with a fake smile.

"Thank you", the brunette muttered and passed her sister. "If you don't mind, I have to take an important call. And I'd like to do that in privacy", she informed the couple, already dialing a number so as to say that they should leave immediately.

Toby grabbed the letters, hit them under his pullover and followed his girlfriend outside.

Melissa double-checked whether they were still in her proximity and when she was sure, she laid away the phone and paced back and forth, obviously waiting for someone

In the meantime Spencer and Toby had squatted beneath one of the houses' windows. Spencer raised to spy through the glass and raised an eyebrow, wondering why her sister had put aside the phone. The next thing she knew, Melissa hurried to the back door and came back with no one other than CeCe Drake.

Spencer couldn't prevent her jaw from dropping automatically at this sight. "What's happening?" Toby inquired to know, still huddling on the ground.

Spencer had racked her brain for theories on why this didn't mean anything specific, but given the current situation, it had to. She had been trying to trust her sister, but every word that came out of her mouth was a lie. Something inside the girl turned to stone and at that moment there was nothing else she felt for Melissa, but hatred.

"I am going in there", Spencer said with an alarmingly enraged voice, already threatening to leave their hiding position, when Toby pulled her back fiercely. "You can't go in there, are you crazy? This is not going to get us anywhere. Just tell me what you saw and we'll discuss it in peace."

Spencer took a deep breathe, before she was even able to talk without her emotions surfacing. "She's in there with CeCe Drake."

Toby's eyes widened. "You sure it's CeCe?" He asked.

"The devil's face is kind hard not to recognize" Spencer responded bluntly.

"Well, maybe it's a friendship thingy?" Toby tried to find a positive explanation, clearly without success.

"Yeah, sure", Spencer hissed. "More like an A-club-membership-thingy".

Toby put his hand comfortingly on Spencer's shaking body, softly rubbing her arm through the fabric of her cardigan. "Glaring through the windows ain't gonna get you any closer to what they are up to."

"I have to talk to Jason. He is one of the few people CeCe had a closer relationship to and I bet he knows more about her involvement. He might even know about Melissa. I need to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible." She rummaged in her pocket to find her cell and dialed Jason's number. After a minute of waiting, she hung up and tried again. And again. And again.

"Spence, he obviously doesn't want to be reached", Toby tried to talk some sense into the girl.

"I don't care what he wants!" Spencer snapped back, almost a tad too audible.

"Why don't you try to get into his house? I bet he keeps an extra-key under his doormat or something", Toby said, more jokingly than seriously.

"Yeah, why don't I do that, why don't I do that right now?" Spencer asked, her face still reddened with anger, and judging from the look on her face she was willing to kick-in the door to the DiLaurentis house.

**Hanna**

He walked inwards like a deer, fearing to be shot by her, the hunter. Hanna stood there, motion- and expressionless. She had tried to mentally prepare herself for this moment, but that was easier said than done. She shifted her look to a spot somewhere to her right to avoid meeting his eyes.

"Hanna…" he raised his voice softly.

The girl swallowed hard. Maybe this was too early. Maybe she would have needed more time to process the fact that he was back…for good.

"Can I … can I just hug you?" He was now only half of a meter away from the girl, eyeing her with a worried look on his face.

Hanna didn't respond, she simply stood there, arms crossed in front of her chest, as if she was trying to guard her innermost part. Eventually she raised her head to face him, and nodded slowly.

He walked one last hesitant step towards her, closing the gap between them, and eventually swung his arm over her shoulder to engulf the girl in a tight hug.

_Too much_. Hanna felt tears sting in her eyes and she forced her eye lids down to keep the fluid from trickling on his shoulder. She couldn't resist the urge to bury her nails in his back. He flinched at the sudden pain, but he didn't let go.

"I er… gonna leave you two alone", Miranda said awkwardly from somewhere at the back of the room. She smiled briefly at Caleb and then went out of the door, leaving the two to themselves.

"You can't even imagine how much I've missed you", Caleb whispered into her ear which made it even more irresistible to hold back her tears.

"Don't…", she managed to mutter. She freed herself from the boy's grip and took one step aback, once again covering her upper body with folded arms, her look fixated on the floor.

"Hanna… just gimme a chance to explain. I don't expect you to forgive me right away, but I know, that deep in your heart you know that_ this_ is meant to be, no matter what."

He reached out to take her hands, but Hanna showed some reluctancy. She gave in at last, but mostly because she didn't want to be one of those resentful bitches who would preach one for their mistakes forever.

They sat down on the couch in the living room, Caleb still not letting go of her hand.

"It's important that you'll listen to everything I have to say without interrupting, is that okay with you? I'll tell you when I am done and then it'll be your turn to tell me what you think." He looked her deeply in the eyes, almost drowning in a deep blue ocean.

Hanna nodded.

"So, let's start at the very beginning…"

**Aria**

Aria still hadn't wrapped her head around what went down with Wes and why she had even permitted him to kiss her whilst his brother and her ex-boyfriend was still in a coma, rotting away in a hospital bed with only a dim chance of ever waking up.

Sure, the doctors had told that his condition was slowly improving, but Aria had watched every episode of _Grey's Anatomy_, so she was aware of the fact that medical conditions could change at any time. After all, Ezra had suffered severe damage from his gunshot wound.

Frankly, you could say he was already dead. It seemed a little cold to think so, but there was some kind of truth to it. A lot of patients remain in this comatose state for years, simply because their dependents are unable to let go, but in fact those people had already vanished from this planet. They only thing that keeps their vital functions on a life-maintaining level are tons of machines and devices, wired to what used to be a lively human being, a person with a story to them, with emotions, good and bad, but what's left of them then is only an empty shell. Their heart kept beating, because the primitive areas of the brain were still active, but the important ones – those who bore all the memories, moments, feelings – were dead, plain dead.

She wouldn't give up on him yet. She would probably never do. She could perfectly well picture herself in a few years from now, still sitting at his bed, brushing strands of hair from his face, whispering loving words into his ear and hoping that someday he'll respond to them.

However, the thing she needed to concentrate on right now was how things would continue with Wesley. He wrote her a message a couple of hours ago, obviously asking for a date and she hadn't yet replied.

Wesley was a nice guy, he really was. He had a lot from his brother, both the looks and parts of his character and if she hadn't met Ezra, she would've loved to go out with him, but giving the circumstances, it did seem kind of … strange.

But then again, what would she have to lose? She had broken up with Ezra before the accident and her actual agenda was to leave her relationship with him behind her but after the recent events it was kind of hard to actually carry out her plan. But being with Wesley would constantly remind her of Ezra – so she would either see him as Ezra all the time and when he acted differently, she would probably lash out on him for not being his brother, _or _seeing him would always bring back the memory of her relationship with Ezra and she would spend most of her time crying in the bathroom instead of actually being with Wes.

_Wow._ She couldn't remember having ever been so pessimistic in her life. _What the heck, just do it_, she thought to herself. What's the point in holding yourself back when life's so rich of opportunities?

**Spencer**

Spencer had to hold back a laugh when she actually found a second key under the doormat. Such stupidity was usually only seen in movies, but then again, why would she bother? It came in handy right now.

She opened the door and hesitantly walked in, looking to her right and to her left to check whether there was any sign of Jason or anyone else.

"Jason? Are you here?" She tried, but didn't get a response.

She silently closed the door behind her and eyeballed the living room. Everything was as neat as it had been when Ms. DiLaurentis had lived here. The kitchen was almost suspiciously clean. There were no used dishes or unfinished food items lying around. At some point she even considered the possibility that Jason didn't even stay at his old premises. He might've hunkered down in one of his pothead-friends' places. Or maybe he hadn't even settled down here again and was just visiting Rosewood for God knows which reasons.

She proceeded with her investigations upstairs and checked every single room, including the toilets and the storeroom. Before she entered Alison's former room, she came to a halt. For some reason, this room never stopped being creepy. It was almost as if it was haunted by evil spirits. Spencer mentally scolded herself for behaving like such a chicken. _Evil Spirits, like seriously? _But the uneasy feeling wouldn't go away, even when she had mustered up the courage to walk inside. She shivered, even though it was quite muggy outside for this time of the year. She was just about to leave when she noticed something on Alison's bed. A pile of clothes. _Nothing unusual_, Spencer thought, picking up a pink blouse. … _if Jason would be a secret tranny_, she added mentally. Now she was almost one hundred per cent sure that the blonde she had seen at his window wasn't some kind of hallucination. Even though she couldn't just assume that it had been CeCe, it seemed very likely. The two of them _had_ a past and it would make sense if Jason was trying to help her. Maybe he didn't get over her dumping him and was attempting to get her back?

Logically, this guaranteed Jason a higher range on the A-suspect-list.

Spencer rummaged through the clothes with the hope to find something that could tell her more about the person who owned them. Judging from the style, it could have definitely been CeCe. Amongst blouses, two ripped jeans and a few tees, Spencer even found some underwear. Maybe Jason just had someone over to well … satisfy his needs? Or maybe he had a girlfriend? After all, CeCe and Alison weren't the only blondes in Rosewood, so directly accusing Jason of having a pact with the devil … er… CeCe, was kind of a precipitant judgment. Sure the boy had some secrets, no doubt there, but so far he hadn't done any harm to the girls, so why would he work against them then?

But then again, he could be just as manipulating as his half-sister. Manipulation obviously ran in the Hastings family.

**Hanna**

Hanna had to admit that, when Caleb eventually left, she felt kind of empty. Nothing and no one had managed to cheer her up. Not the cute text Travis had sent her, not the third Cronut she had scoffed – which she now regretted -, and not the "100 funniest ads of the world"-series, nothing.

She had listened attentively to the story he had to tell, and Hanna now understood, at least mostly. There were a few things she still found a little strange, but people were different and had different views on different things – so it was only normal to think of something as strange when another person didn't.

To be brutally honest, Hanna wanted to tackle him during his speech and kiss him until they couldn't breathe anymore, but she didn't want to be easy and she wasn't the kind of person that would cheat on someone else just because she couldn't control her lust anymore.

Technically, Travis and her weren't together, but they were … something. She has actually developed feelings for the guy and she cared about him, even if those feelings would never ever reach up to those she had for Caleb. But after all, he was the one who cared for her, when Caleb didn't.

Thus she told the boy that she still needed to overthink everything. She wanted Caleb, she wanted him so much, it was almost unbearable to stay away from him since he had come back.

Hanna's emotions had so rapidly changed from complete numbness to a rush of hormones that it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to cope with it.

She sensed a noise coming from her door and since she didn't await someone in specific, she reckoned it was her mother coming home from her work.

"Hey sweetie, I brought some Chinese food, you want any?" Ms. Marin entered the house with two full bags of deliciously smelling treats. Hanna had to distance herself from the bags to not succumb to the seductive odor.

"Nah, thanks, I am not hungry", she lied, sipping from a glass of tap water.

"What's wrong? You look so…exhausted", her mother noticed and sat down on the opposite side of the kitchen counter. She was still clothed in her usual business attire – black pantsuit, white blouse and to add some color for a change, a light greyish blue silk scarf.

"Well, I had quite an interesting day", Hanna responded, gulping down the last bit of water. _God, how she craved a cool glass of lemonade right now. _Stressful situations always led to her falling back into old patterns. However, it used to be worse. Now she possessed at least a little bit of discipline that kept her from raiding the fridge.

"So? Tell me what happened?" Her mother probed.

"Mh… guess who's back?"

"Puh… to be quite honest, with you girls that could be anyone, including the dead", Ashley responded, obviously referring to the rumor of Alison being alive which she had heard from the Hastings. Too good she didn't know it wasn't just a rumor.

"Think hard."

Ashley Marin slightly opened her mouth when she realized whom her daughter was talking about. "Ohhh…" She nodded knowingly. "And what did he had to say?"

"Lots of things, actually. Why he went away, why he had chosen to come back,…" She had obviously wanted to add something to her sentence, but decided not to.

"So, not to be too nosey, but are you guys getting back together?" It almost felt like talking to one of her friends. At that moment, Hanna was glad that she had such a good relationship to her mother, well, most of the time.

"I don't know. I mean, I want to. But I want him to … you know…"

"To court you?" Ashley filled in the missing words.

"Yes… kind of. I don't wanna be the kind of girl that is convinced so easily. I want to be earned", Hanna explained. "Plus I don't want to ditch Travis with the excuse that 'my true love came back and I don't need him as a compensation anymore'."

"I see. But I honestly think he'll understand. It might take time, but he will accept that Caleb is the one for you. It doesn't have to mean that you didn't care for him as well. You two would have been a good match, but you and Caleb … it's like a really cheesy novelette. You two belong together, I think _we both_ know that." She smiled at her daughter and brushed comfortingly over her shoulder.

The corners of Hanna's mouth lifted up for a second. "Thank you", she said with warmth in her voice. They hugged briefly and Ashley went up to her room, turning to Hanna one last time: "And I know you want that Chinese food. Don't worry, it's low-carb." She winked at her and then walked upstairs.

**Aria**

"Hey", Wes greeted shyly. He was dressed in a white shirt covered by a blue jacket with golden buttons, beige trousers and black loafers.

"Wow, someone's fancy today", Aria commented jokingly and offered a hug. She herself wore a casual dark grey shirt, ripped jeans, a sleeveless, black vest and dark-brown boots. A necklace with a pendant in form of an owl adorned her cleavage.

He laughed uneasily and scratched the back of his head.

"Let's go?" Aria motioned for him to follow her into the cinema.

The news from today still lingered in the back of Wesley's head and Aria's sudden change in behavior was worrying him. Did she know? Was she so nice to him on purpose? Not that he wouldn't think of Aria as a nice and friendly girl, but not that long ago she had seemed rather distanced and cold. He tried to convince himself that she might be acting like that to overlay the fact that deep inside she was actually still hurting. Whatsoever, he was going to get the most out of this night and enjoy it, and maybe she would too.

It took them only a few minutes to get the tickets and a grand bucket of popcorn. They seated themselves in the back row and Aria placed the popcorn between them as if she was marking the borders that mustn't be crossed. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and cleared his throat audibly. Aria glanced at him, taking in the sight of his soft facial features. Noticing her eyes on him, he turned to look at her and smiled briefly.

Aria didn't really catch a lot of the movies' plot. She stared blankly at the screen, her mind crowded with thoughts. She felt his fingers brush against her since they both had their arms on the same armrest, and felt a light tingle.

"S…sorry", Wes whispered when he registered that Aria had quickly pulled her hand away. There was an almost invisible shade of red on his cheeks and he put his own hand down to avoid more 'unwanted touching'.

"You know…you don't have to do this", he turned to her and she winced at the sudden feel of his warm breath against her skin.

"But I … I want to", Aria said, although not entirely sure. She fixated his fleshy lips and her eye lids lowered a little.

"Do you really?" Wes asked, moving closer. He didn't sound so unsure anymore.

They approached each other slowly, until the gap between them eventually closed.

Wes tasted like a mixture of salt from the popcorn they had been eating and something else she couldn't quite define. Their movements were shy and slow at first, when they were teasingly gliding their own lips against the lips of the other person, but things got more passionate with every passing minute. Aria felt his tongue begging for entrance and she opened her mouth slightly as a sign of permission. She had her hands pressed on his chest and moaned silently in his mouth as his hands began to explore her body. She didn't even think of anyone watching them, she simply didn't want to care… about anything…at all.

She felt her phone vibrating continuously in her pocket and even though she tried to ignore it at first, it became so nagging at some point, that she broke the kiss and pulled it out of her pocket to look at the new message she had received.

"Guess your new boyfriend is a pretty little liar. –A" Attached was a photograph of what seemed to be medical records. Aria quickly read over the lines and her eyes widened. It was taken out of Ezra's file and documented an intended intoxication that caused his heart to stop beating for a dangerously long time.

"You okay?" Wes asked, his hand still on Aria's thigh.

She needed some time to fully realize what she had just found out. "Did you know about this?" She hissed and shoved the phone violently in his hands.

He felt his heartbeat increase as he realized that she _knew_. "I …" He couldn't even think about an explanation at that moment.

Aria rose from her seat, pondered whether a slap in the face was too much drama after they had already aroused enough attention with their make out session, then stormed out of the cinema.

**The girls**

In the late evening the girls gathered at the lodge. Alison was curled up on the couch, not really paying any attention to what they were doing. Emily looked at her worriedly on a regular basis, but she didn't get anything back, not even a glance. The other three girls hadn't actually talked a lot either. It seemed as every single one of them was living in their own little world right now.

"Guys!" Emily exclaimed. "I thought this was supposed to be a meeting where we share our latest findings. So far, none of us have."

Emily had told them about Sullivan and that she had kept in touch with her secretly. They hadn't said much. She didn't know whether they just didn't consider it a big deal or whether something else was bothering them.

Spencer was the first to talk, as per usual. "I saw Melissa talking to CeCe today. And if that wasn't enough, I found women's clothing in Jason DiLaurentis' house. Unless he occasionally likes to show his feminine side, I think someone stayed at his house. That someone might've been CeCe."

"So, Jason is helping CeCe?" Emily asked.

"Well, that is just a theory so far, but it seems likely", Spencer explained.

Hanna listened to them silently. She wouldn't tell them of Caleb being back…yet. This was not about her or her and Caleb, this was about helping Ali. She looked at the girl, staring apathetically at the wall. It was a sheer shock to see her like this.

"Plus they had history, so it would make sense", Spencer added.

"I think I might know who shot Ezra", Aria said out of the blue.

All looks (except Ali's of course) turned to her. "Who?" They asked in unison.

Aria looked at them dead-serious, her voice was a little shaky as if she was desperately trying to contain her emotions. "Remember Wesley Fitzgerald?"

**A**

Somewhere in the dark, a certain anonymous person was busying themselves with some paper work. There was a piece of paper lying on a dark wooden table. Upon a closer look it could be identified as a list of names… Shana … Toby … Melissa. The rest was covered by the person that was bend over the table. After studying the list intensively, they proceeded with taking out a patient chart of the infamous Radley sanitarium. They took it in one hand and with the other they burned the paper with a lighter … a lighter with the initials N.W.

* * *

_**Hope you liked this one! Took me a little longer this time, but I hope it was worth the wait. Again I would like to remind you that I am offering to answer a few questions which are not too direct like "who is A?" blabla. -C**_


	7. Pretty Little Secrets

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 & SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **With Alison back in Rosewood, everyone's world is turning upside down. Aria is still trying to cope with the fact that Ezra is in a coma, Emily fights some old feelings, Spencer gets anonymous clues on A's identity and Hanna finds herself in a love triangle. Also, Alison will have to deal with everyone's reaction to her reappearance.

* * *

**Previously on Pretty Little Liars… Ezra was attacked … again, but luckily he survived. Aria went on a date with her brother, who kept a secret from her. Hanna and Caleb talked things over, but will they manage to reunite as a couple? Emily called someone to help Alison and Spencer found out that CeCe Drake was involved with both Alison's brother and her sister. And A? Likes keeping lists of people. But what for?**

* * *

_**The rest of the questions:**_

_**To: James**_

_**Question: What happened to Mona?**_

_**Answer: I haven't figured out a lot of story for her character…yet, but my plans are to include her in the later chapters as there is definitely more to tell about her and her involvement. She is currently on good terms with the liars and not (yet) up to anything possibly evil.**_

_**To: Emma**_

_**Question: Will there be a twin in this story?**_

_**Answer: I guess that would be a lot to reveal yet. All I can say is: maybe ;) **_

_**To: Annie**_

_**Question: Will there be a big fight or will A just get unmasked & arrested?**_

_**Answer: Oh yes, there definitely will be a fight! I have epic plans for the finale! And we will find out who A is and they police will be after them, but A always got a backup plan ;)**_

* * *

**The girls**

"Wesley? As in Ezra's little, handsome brother?" Hanna asked, eyebrows raised in shock.

Aria nodded slowly. "I… well, I had something going on with him. It was some kind of a … rebound, I guess you could call it. We went out the other night, and I got a message from A with a picture of Ezra's medical files attached. He had been attacked in the hospital, someone actually tried to kill him … again!" She gesticulated excitedly with her hands and her voice was faster than usual. "And the message stated that Wesley knew", she ended her story.

The other girls' jaws dropped almost simultaneously. Alison had gone to bed before they discussed the matter, so she wasn't around to hear the news.

Spencer was the first so speak: "Okay, I am going to ignore the fact that you hooked up with Ezra's little brother for now, but do you really think he is capable of something like that?"

"Think, Spencer, what do we know about him? Yes, right, NOTHING. For all we know, he could be an astronaut whilst working for the CIA", Aria responded bluntly.

Hanna interposed: "But he's not A, right? I mean, that wouldn't make any sense, right? I can't see any connection here."

"Yes, that is because we hardly know anything about him. After all Ezra knew Ali and had kept it a secret for quite a long time, so why shouldn't his brother?" Aria explained.

"She does make a point there", Emily noted. "We cannot be a hundred per cent sure that A is one of the people we know have been involved with Alison or the DiLaurentis family."

"But it just seems so … far-fetched, I dunno." Hanna thought about a secret she had kept to herself for a while now – Lucas. She didn't even know why she hadn't talked about it yet. Maybe she was waiting to get more clues? Or was she subconsciously protecting the guy? Or maybe there were just too many things raining down on them right now that someone like Lucas didn't seem to be the biggest treat. However, she'd try again to get in touch with him that was for sure.

"Wha… guys, seriously. I feel overwhelmed by a flood of information and nothing makes sense anymore", said Emily, histrionically throwing her hands in the air.

"Okay, so … let's sum it up, who's on our suspect list?" Spencer asked. "I for my part am sure Melissa and CeCe have enough potentiAl to be on the top of that list. However, Jason has doubtlessly got some secrets, and if he is really helping CeCe – which I hope for him, he's not – then he surely gets a higher position."

"What about Shana and Jenna? Haven't seen them in a while, but they have been suspects for a while", Emily suggested.

"Well, I am not so sure anymore. Maybe they are involved but they don't seem to play an important role. Plus Jenna is afraid of CeCe, and she has obviously been on the radar of someone herself. Remember the lake incident?" Spencer responded. "And Shana tried to help Alison and you to a secret meeting, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but I still wouldn't rule them out, especially not Jenna. She has been around when Alison disappeared that night" Emily tried to invigorate her argument.

"I think she has been ruled out long before when Alison had made sure that she wasn't the one sending her those texts", Spencer discounted Emily's statement.

"What about the note Black Widow lost at Ms. D's funeral? The one with Noel's address? Have we ever excluded him, or what?" Hanna asked in confusion.

None of them seemed to have an answer for that. For some reason, Alison's trust for Noel had led to them hardly questioning his true agenda. It was true that he could play a two-sided game, but he was hardly a topic of conversation for the girls' anymore.

"Hm, true. Put Noel on the list then", Spencer said to Aria, who was writing down all the names on a tiny piece of paper. "What about Mona? Are we sure that she's not in it anymore?" she asked.

"Good question actually. Haven't seen her in a while, have you? I am not sure whether that is supposed to calm me down or make me nervous though", Emily answered.

"I had a silly idea once, that maybe Wren could be a possible A" Spencer muttered silently.

"Wren? Wasn't he like doctor super-nice?" Aria asked.

"Well, he did seem to have a thing for younger girls, so maybe Alison was in his 'area of interest'", Hanna responded, slightly blushing as the memory of her and Wren at Radley flashed in front of her mind's eye. She quickly shook it off.

"So, in conclusion … we know absolutely nothing, right?" Emily sighed wearily and let her body fall on Ezra's comfy couch.

"We should probably get to sleep. I don't know about you guys, but I am almost falling off my seat", Hanna said. She yawned audibly and rubbed her eyes. "Maybe A will surprise us with another message in the morning, leaving us with even more questions."

_Next day… _

**Hanna**

Sunshine seeped inside the lodge, slowly making its way to Hanna's half-open eyes. She blinked a few times before her retina adjusted to the sudden brightness of the morning sun. Her back ached from the rough wooden floor and she moaned lightly whilst raising her exhausted body. Surprisingly she was the only one already awake, when it was usually the other way around.

Her head was spinning and she felt a sudden nausea overcoming her. Yesterday was … intense. And despite all of the other shocking revelations, the fact that Caleb was actually back was the only thing occupying her thoughts every wakening minute. Even in her dreams, he wouldn't go away.

Hanna went through what he said once more. The story he had told about Ravenswood sounded somewhat surreal and even though the other day she was more than willing to believe it, she was now beginning to question every detail about it.

It had all begun when Miranda had started to see a strange woman who resembled her mother so much, that she believed it was her mother's soul trying to get in touch with her. Strangely, she had been the only one able to see the woman, so Caleb and Miranda's other friends had reckoned that her mysterious family history had left some mental damages. One night she had swerved off the road, because she thought the ghostly woman had appeared right in front of her car. The vehicle had subsequently crashed into a tree nearby and left her unconscious at the scene of the accident. A passing truck had found her and brought her to hospital nearby, where they diagnosed a brain hemorrhage. She was unbelievably lucky to have gotten away without any permanent damage. However, after that night, Caleb had felt responsible for her well-being from now on. He would never leave her side until her visions had eventually stopped, and that was when he decided to return.

However, in Hanna's dream Caleb had been atop of Miranda, forcefully pinning her down on his bed and trail kissing from her neck to her chest and downwards.

She had woken up with sweat pearls on her forehead and her heart beating so fast that she thought it would rip out of her chest at any minute.

He wasn't lying, or was he? Hanna know that Caleb was one of the sincerest people she had ever met, but he had lied to her before and beyond that, everyone had their pretty little secrets. Maybe it was only a fugacious romance, a temptation he couldn't resist any longer, and now that it was over, he was crawling back to the one he really, genuinely loved?

But then again, a lot of weird and unexpected things had happened over the past years, so in comparison to those his story seemed actually pretty normal.

Hanna rubbed her eyes sleepily. She looked at her phone to find 3 new messages from Travis. She hadn't answered his last texts and now he was worried that something might've happened to her. She let out a deep sigh. She liked Travis, she really did, but nothing could ever compare to the way she felt for Caleb.

But how should she tell him that? "Sorry my true love came back, I don't need you anymore, but thanks for filling the hole he had left?"

"We need to talk. Meet me at 1pm at the Brew" she quickly typed into her cell. That first sentence never bore anything positive, so Hanna hoped at least Travis would be mentally prepared for something bad to happen.

She laid back on the ground, arms folded behind her head and stared absentmindedly at the ceiling. She imagined how it would feel like to look in those hazel eyes again, feel those strong hands all over her body again and those, irresistible, soft lips on hers… And the imagination alone felt so good, Hanna didn't dare to think about something else.

**Alison**

Alison's state had slightly improved. She was still distanced and not able to fully engage in a conversation, but at least her facial muscles were able to contract into a smile sometimes.

Today would be her first therapy session with Dr. Sullivan and she was both anxious to talk about her feelings and relieved that they would be somewhere safe.

She was sitting on Ezra's couch. The other girls had left the apartment a couple of minutes ago to give her some moments of privacy before she would talk to the psychologist. She nervously played with a strand of hair, always keeping her eyes attached to the door.

Around 11am, the doctor eventually knocked and Alison quickly rose from her seat, heading towards the wooden door. Her hand was shaking noticeably when she turned the key.

"Oh, hello. You must be Alison, right?" A friendly voice greeted her. The woman was two heads taller than her, slender and with a very long, pale face and thin hair. She smiled warmly.

"Come in", Alison stepped aside to grant her entrance.

Dr. Sullivan curiously scanned her surroundings, whilst putting her coat on a tiny table near the door. "So, this is your temporary residence?" She asked.

_More like hiding place_, Alison thought, but nodded in agreement. "Do you want something to drink?" She asked politely.

"No, thanks I am good", her visitor responded.

Alison tensed. She knew, this was what therapy would feel like, but the thought of sharing her secrets with a complete stranger were suddenly frightening her. She swallowed hard and sat down in front of the psychologist. She tried to force a smile, but failed miserably.

"Do you think it'll feel uncomfortable talking to me?" Alison raised an eyebrow. How in hell could she see know that?

"A little", she answered. "But that's normal, isn't it?" She bit down on her lower lip.

"Yes, of course. A lot of people don't say much during their first therapy session. I tell them that I have signed an agreement to never share anything with a third party, but that doesn't seem to help them. It's not that they fear that I would tell anyone, they fear that I will judge them for what they feel and think. They are afraid that I will label them with some kind of mental disease and only see them as a sick and confused person. But I don't, you should know that. I am not a doctor in this sense, I am more of a … counselor, someone to turn to if you're having out-of-the-ordinary-troubles or even everyday problems that you feel are getting too much for you to take. Just keep that in mind", she explained. It was stunning how she had managed to keep a smile on her face throughout the whole speech.

Alison wrapped her arms around a cup of warm coffee, she had actually prepared for the therapist. They warmth seeping through the porcelain burned on her hands, but she didn't put the mug away. She needed something that would keep her hands busy or else she would either compulsively run her fingers through her hair or drum them on the coffee table and such behavior would (she thought) automatically lead to false assumptions when seen by a psychologist.

"What is your biggest fear right now?" Sullivan asked, looking at her with a piercing look.

Alison blinked a few times and looked away. "That someone is going to finish what they started in September 2009", she responded deadpan.

Sullivan nodded slowly and took some notes in a ragged leather-bound book. "And do you have any ideas who this person could be?"

Alison bit down hard on her lip this time, so hard, that she could almost feel the iron-like taste of blood in her mouth. She was forcing her tears down her throat, but the resulting pain gave her even more reason to cry. After a few seconds of trying to maintain her composure, she started to talk:

"I thought I knew … countless times. For some time I didn't trust anyone, not even my friends. They were on my suspect list too, until I was absolutely sure they were not involved. I even suspected my brother, but now that he is …" A single tear escaped her eye. "…gone, I don't anymore."

Sullivan shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Being confronted with other people's losses, especially under such extreme circumstances, was indeed a challenge. "Do you know for sure, that he is gone? Maybe this … person just wants you to believe that he is?"

Alison had a perplex look on her face as if this was absolutely out of question. "But… they send me a picture. I … I can show it to you", Alison offered desperately.

"Alison … a picture can be anything if you view it from a different perspective. From what your friend has told me, I get that your brother is in a critical medical condition, but seeing him like this, in your current state, it is only natural that you'll make impetuous assumptions."

The tears were unpreventable now and made their way down Alison's cheeks, staining her olive green cardigan.

"But they killed my mother! They didn't fake her burial, did they?" Alison responded in between sniffs. "They want me to show myself or else they will never stop torturing and killing the ones I love. What kind of creature would do something like that? I … just … I can't believe someone would hate me _that_ much." Despite her frantic attempts to stay calm, every emotion she had kept bottled up inside of her, surfaced at this moment. She felt her whole body shaking while she talked. Was this another panic attack?

Dr. Sullivan reached out to gently stroke her shoulders, repeatedly, until Alison had found back to her normal breathing rhythm.

"It might not have to do so much with hatred", she said. "Some people are … different. They lack certain emphatic and emotional skills. In professional terminology, we would refer to them as "sociopaths". Those are the people who could kill without the bat of an eyelid and without ever feeling the slightest hint of remorse for their deeds. Their agenda might arise from a personal conflict, but it's not sheer hatred. It's a psychological deficiency both doctors and psychotherapists haven't yet completely figured out", she explained.

Alison's heart skipped a beat. On some occasions she had thought she could redeem what she had possibly done to the person that hated her in ways no one ever had hated her before, but if this someone was an emotionless maniac, every effort to make amends would be absolutely worthless. She felt a shiver creep up her spine. All of the sudden the warm and cozy lodge felt cold and icy and goose bumps appeared on her arms.

"How can we be sure that they are a … "

"Sociopath? Well, their behavioral patterns all point towards that diagnosis. Sociopaths are known to be extremely intelligent and manipulative. Which is probably the compensation for their lack of emotions and empathy. The thing with sociopaths is, that they _know_ feelings, even though they can't have them themselves. Despite their lack of empathy, they have an incredibly good knowledge of human nature. They know how to win their victim's trust and how to persuade them into doing something they normally wouldn't do. They can be so charismatic and friendly that without knowing more about their background it is incredibly hard, even impossible, to identify them as mentally ill. Most of them don't kill, only a few of them do. And some of them are not pure sociopaths, but show some kind of sociopathic behavior. The human mind is complex and can be molded in mysterious ways that we don't yet understand. It's a variously balanced mixture of genes and our psychosocial and socioeconomic environment.

Alison's eyes had widened. Sure this explanation would take a whole lot of guilty off her mind, but it also made her feel even more endangered.

"So, if this person could kill without blinking, how can I be sure, they are not going to slaughter all of the people I love?" she asked, her heart beating out of her chest. There was a lump the size of a toad in her throat.

"This person in particular seems to have a certain plan. Sometimes the torture is more arousing to them than the actual killing and if they can watch their victim suffer, they feel satisfied. They can't get this kind of satisfaction elsewhere. They are bound to rely on those methods to get a kind of satisfactory thrill."

Alison's heart pumped even faster. Someone actually getting aroused by her anxiety and despair? How fucked up was that?

"And .. ho…how can we, I mean what can we do, what can _I_ do?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"Stick together, for now. And I'd actually advise you on getting professional protection. If you don't want to go to a local authority, at least install a good alarm system in this lodge. And if you get any hint on this person's identity, you should go straight to the police."

Alison nodded, even though she wasn't exactly sure what would happen if they would really know more about A's identity. "And concerning the alarm system, I think, we are pretty much equipped with the best money could buy", Alison explained, referring to Ezra's "spy-chamber." For the first time in a while, she managed to put on an almost genuine smile. Maybe this therapy thingy was indeed a good idea. Still, the fear of A was occupying her mind practically 24/7, even more so now.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about? Our hour is almost over, but I can give you some extra time,… on the house", Sullivan suggested.

Alison thought for a minute. What besides A should be troubling her? She went through the latest events like an archivist would go through written material. She rested at one moment in particular. Or rather, one person in particular.

**Emily**

Cool water enveloped her half-naked body and adrenaline poured into her veins, as she started dashing forward. Her vision was blurred through her swim goggles but she could perceive the most important details of her surroundings. Muffled voices from above reached her ears, but she blocked them out, frantically pushing aside the water to move forward.

It felt good to be back in her old habitat. Swimming was a way to escape from basically everything. When Emily was inside the large school-owned pool, nothing else mattered, but her determination to succeed.

When she emerged from the water, gasping for air, she could see a group of people had gathered at the end of the pool, chatting with each other. She hesitated for a moment, before she continued with her training, noticing that one of the people was no one other, than Paige McCullers.

Before the girl could turn to see her, Emily plunged underwater again. Her heart had slightly increased its speed at the sight of Paige, but Emily chose to ignore that. After all, their last conversation hadn't ended on good terms and since then both had tried to stay out of each other's way. However, it was kind of hard to avoid each other when they were in the same school and in the same swim team and Emily didn't want to completely let go off her responsibilities and hobbies, just because of a messy break up. She had indeed abstained from swimming for a while just because of that, but at some point she just found it ridiculous. _Yeah, like disappearing underwater was any less ridiculous_, she thought. Sooner or later, she'd have to confront her anyway.

After a full hour of intense practice, Emily heaved her wet body out of the water. She put off her goggles and swim cap and let her long, thick mane fall onto her broad, athletic shoulders.

"Hey there", a sudden voice startled her. Paige had emerged out of nowhere, now awkwardly standing in front of her ex-lover, her own hair tied into a strict knot and her black-brown eyes shyly avoiding Emily's.

"Oh, hey." Emily scratched the back of her neck. "How have you been?" She tried to sound casual, but it couldn't take the weirdness out of this situation.

"Good actually. I was … quite busy, with school and stuff … and swimming, of course." She pursed her lips and nodded slowly. "What about you?"

Emily stared into the distance. "Same."

A minute of silence passed between them, when Paige raised her voice again.

"Look … It does not have to be like … _this_. I still really like you and I guess I don't want to lose the connection I've had for you, even if that means that I have to relinquish certain parts of this relationship. What I am trying to say is that … I'd love for us to be friends."

Emily took in a deep breath, cautiously considering her possible responses.

Eventually she nodded. "Yes… yes, I want that too", she said. It was the least she could offer to the other girl. She remembered when Alison had broken her heart a few years back. Still Emily would've never wanted to let go off her friendship with her just because of that, so she got where Paige was coming from. A strong connection shouldn't be thrown away that easily.

A tall, lean female walked over to the two. Her hair was as wavy and dense as Emily's and she had impressively full lips and mesmerizingly beautiful eyes. She was an exotic mixture of Caucasian and something else Emily couldn't quite decipher. Maybe Esquimaux? "Hey, you guys" she greeted friendlily.

"Oh, this is Sydney by the way, Sydney Driscoll", Paige introduced her. "Sydney, this is Emily, my ex-gir… a friend of mine." The girl stuck her hand towards Emily. "Sydney is an exchange student from Alaska. We met a while ago in a swim camp. You should see her Butterfly stroke. Am-azing!"

"Oh, don't flatter me", Sydney said. _Did Emily just detect a French accent in there?_

"But you are not 100% Alaskan, or?" She asked curiously.

She smiled. "No, you're right. My mother's actually from Québec. I speak both English and French fluently."

_Wow_. Emily couldn't but feel a slight hint of admiration for the girl.

"What about you?" She asked. Her almond shaped eyes wandered over Emily's athletic figure up to her oval face and her dark brown hair that complimented her olive complexion just perfectly.

"Half-Canadian, half-Filipino", Emily answered. The corners of her mouth curled up sheepishly and she felt her cheeks heat up a little.

Sydney noticed her behavior with a self-assured grin. Then she looked at Paige and back at Emily again. "You guys wanna get something to eat?" She asked. Her voice was soft and alluring.

"I actually can't. Got a history test tomorrow, so Napoleon and his revolution are waiting for me at home", Paige excused herself.

"What about you?" Sydney turned to Emily. Her eyes were glistening in the bright sunlight that oozed through the gigantic window panes.

"Er…" Emily thought a second if there was someone on her agenda at the moment, and eventually decided that she could grant herself a few hours of free time. Beyond that Sydney's persona seemed so intriguing, that Emily simply needed to know more about the girl.

"Yeah, sure, why not."

She turned to head towards the door, accompanied by the Alaskan girl, but got halted when she softly bumped into another person. She looked up to meet Shana's face.

"So…sorry", she said apologetically and proceeded to walk, glancing over her shoulder on more time to see the other girl walking towards Paige. They were obviously discussing something. And judging from their secretive behavior, it was something no one should know about.

**Hanna**

Trevor was standing in a shadowy corner of the street nearby the Brew, hands shyly stuffed into his pocket, eyes absentmindedly darted towards the floor.

"Hey", Hanna approached him with a not so brave look either. A lump was forming in her throat and she was trying her best to swallow it. "You want some coffee before we talk?" She asked silently.

He nodded and without any form of affectionate salutation, they entered the coffee shop.

Equipped with a large Cappuccino, Hanna finally jumped in at the deep end. Her mouth felt cottony and she had to practically force every word out of it.

"So, look… something happened", she began, not sure where to go from here. "I really don't know how to tell you this." She laughed nervously.

Travis licked his lips. "Well, we both know where it is going, so…" he responded with a shrug.

Hanna nodded slowly and muttered an almost inaudible "Yes."

"It's … Caleb came back", she finally managed to say. It felt as if a monstrously big weight had been moved off her chest and she could finally breathe properly again.

Travis grimaced. He opened up his mouth to say something, but didn't. He had known from the beginning, that he was nothing more than a 'second choice', a 'temporary replacement' until the better one walks by again, but hearing it out loud did feel kind of different. It wasn't just his ego that was hurt, he actually liked Hanna, a lot. Sure, they hadn't known each other for that long and he had always kept in mind that this was definitely not going to last and when she called him up to meet here, he_ knew_ what was going on. Nevertheless, he had hoped that maybe he was wrong.

"I know I am a terrible person, but you should know that I really, really liked you. If we would have met on another occasion, I am sure things would've turned out differently. Another place, another time,…" She tried to smile, but clearly this wouldn't cheer him up.

"I understand, okay? I knew Caleb and you had … something. A bound so unbreakably strong, that it wouldn't just go away that easily. It just doesn't feel good to finally hear that", he responded, clasping his hands together.

Hanna took a deep breath. "I know this sounds stupid every time someone says it after a break up, but I really want us to be friends."

Travis hesitated. He scratched his neck. "I dunno. I mean yeah, why not, but like right now? Guess that would definitely be a little to awkward wouldn't it be?"

"Well, you know what I mean … but if you need anything at anytime, you know where to find me, right? Oh, and don't mind on coffee. It's my treat."

"It's not even good coffee", Travis managed a reasonably genuine smile. "But fine, if you want to."

Hanna grinned. They stood up and hugged briefly and then he took off, one more time looking back at the blonde that he had so rapidly taken to his heart.

Hanna forced the suppressed air through her lips and sat back down again, once Travis was gone. She rummaged through her tiny Chanel purse to look for her phone and as soon as she got it out, she quickly typed in a text to Caleb that sounded a lot like the one she had sent to Travis, except that this time, it _did_ bear a positive message.

**Emily**

They strolled alongside the pretty fences of the Rosewood houses that lined the street, giggling and chatting and for the first time, Emily felt at ease again. She and Sydney had discussed every possible topic from swimming over their history teacher's weird beard to their critical view on today's politics. And all of that only within a couple of hours. Emily felt so refreshed talking to Sydney, it made her almost sad that their meeting had to end.

"I had a blast today", Sydney said, when they reached the Fields' mansion. "We should definitely do this again sometime." She cocked her head to the side a little, eyeing the other girl with a wide grin.

Emily nodded excitedly. "Yes, absolutely. See you tomorrow at school, then?" Suddenly she froze in place, not sure on how to properly say goodbye to the girl. The memory of her first encounter with Maya flashed in front of her mind's eye. However, Sydney had already stuck her hand towards her.

When they shook hands, the Alaskan girl leaned closer to give Emily a gentle peak on the cheek. However her lips rested there a lot longer than they should have. They felt soft and silky and Emily couldn't but blush slightly at the unexpected sign of affection. Sydney leaned back again and grinned widely when she noticed that Emily's cheek had turned to a faint tone of red.

"Bye, Filipino", she said. They decided on nicknaming each other "Filipino" and "Frenchy" which both of them found incredibly funny for some reason.

Emily stuffed her hands into her pockets as she headed to her front porch. It would be quite hard to wipe the smile off her face today.

**Hanna**

She saw him standing nearby a taxi stand, eyes focused on some spot in the distance. The wind played with some strands of his hair and he looked so deep in thought, Hanna was sure he wouldn't even notice her standing next to him.

"Hey you." She softly nudged him. "What are you philosophizing about in your head?" She asked jokingly.

Caleb smiled at the sight of her. "Well, you know, everything and anything." He pulled her in a brief embrace, than looked at her intensively. "Did you …"

"Yes", she responded softly.

He breathed in sharply, then put his rough hands on her cheeks. He gazed into an endless ocean of blue and fell in love with her all over again. "I hope you didn't feel pressured by me. I would've waited, if that was what you wanted", he told her.

Hanna clutched his wrists and gently rubbed his skin. "I couldn't wait any longer", she almost whispered.

They looked at each other for a few seconds as if trying to suppress their craving for the other person, but in the end their temptation was winning against their will.

They vanished into a small back alley, where they were hidden from any curious eyes. Evening was approaching and the daylight had already slightly dimmed. People were chatting in front of a kiosk, cars were rushing down the main street and the wind was swirling through a pile of leaves in the corner, but it sounded as if all of those noises were somewhere far away, muffled and almost inaudible.

Caleb vigorously pushed her against the cold stone wall and captured her lips. Hanna put her hands in his hair, kissing back roughly. Their tongues fought for dominance in each other's mouth cavity. His strong hands wandered all over her body and he gratefully took in the bloomy scent of her perfume. Hanna moaned silently into his mouth in between their hungry kiss. She buried her nails in his naked skin beneath his shirt, but he didn't wince. They pulled away from each other briefly to draw breath. Their foreheads touched and both of them smiled. Between heavy pants, Hanna said: "You need to do me a favor."

Caleb frowned, still smiling. "What do you want?" He stroked her cheek softly.

"You need to help me localize someone who's trying to hide", she told him.

"Hanna, I might be a good hacker, but I am not Houdini", Caleb answered. "How do you suppose I am going to do that? Do you have at least any leads, like a cell phone number that I can try to track down?"

"Yes, yes, I do. Here." She gave him her cellphone and pointed to Lucas' number.

"Gottesman is back?" Caleb asked in confusion. "Why would he be hiding?"

"I dunno. But he lied to me about his reasons for being here. And I saw him talk to a black hooded person, which I doubt was anyone else but A."

"So, you think he's helping A again? But the A he used to help was Mona, right? Is she back to her old game again?"

"We have absolutely no idea. But we don't think so. Oh and there is one more thing, you should know…"

**Shana**

Shana Cruz was working late at the Spooktacular store. As Halloween was slowly but surely approaching, she had more customers than the usual 5 to 10 maximum. At 7pm she was about to close, when she noticed someone staring inside through the shopping window.

"Can I help you?" she asked and a gasp escaped her mouth when she saw who it was.

"What are _you_ doing here? I thought I was clear when I said that I want you to stop visiting me here", she said angrily.

The person didn't respond and simply passed the girl and went into the shop. They tried to keep their face covered. A black hood was pulled over their head and they were wearing black, leather gloves. They walked towards an eerie looking costume of a clown and eyed it interestedly.

"We are closed", Shana said bluntly. "If you want to buy something, you need to come back tomorrow."

Still no response.

"What do you really want?" Shana asked. Her body tensed up.

"You owe me", a familiar female voice said.

"Owe you for what?" Shana asked. Her heart pumped faster.

Suddenly the person stepped into the sliver of light that entered the shop through the window and blond locks fell out of the hood. Icy blue eyes fixated the Afro-American girl on the opposite side of the shop counter.

"For the fact that I didn't drown your dear little girlfriend in the lake", she said coldly.

Shana swallowed hard. "What do you want?"

* * *

_**I actually had a lot more ideas to bring into this chapter but I'll include them in the next one! Hope you liked this and especially the last scene. Don't jump to any conclusions yet, though ;-) There's always more to the story than it seems! **_

_**- C**_


	8. Running

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 & SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **With Alison back in Rosewood, everyone's world is turning upside down. Aria is still trying to cope with the fact that Ezra is in a coma, Emily fights some old feelings, Spencer gets anonymous clues on A's identity and Hanna finds herself in a love triangle. Also, Alison will have to deal with everyone's reaction to her reappearance.

* * *

**Previously on Pretty Little Liars…It seems like Caleb and Hanna have finally reunited. But how long will they stay together when there's a certain someone lurking in the shadows ready to destroy their luck? Alison had her first therapy session and her doctor revealed a lot more than she actually wanted to know. In the meantime something seems to be in the offing between Emily and her new friend Sydney, but hadn't she just been trying to rekindle her almost-romance with Alison? And who's the sinister blonde Shana is talking to?**

* * *

_**Anyone ever read the books the TV series is based on actually? I am in the midst of book 6 and I am totally in love with it! Concerning some aspects, it is even better than the TV series.**_

_**And to those of you who don't know (although I guess most of you do) – the promo for season 5, episode 1 is already up and it is am-A-zing! I am so excited for June 10**__**th**__** !**_

_**Regarding the Spona fic, I am already working on it, but it might take a while until I upload it.**_

_**Okay, I am going to stop babbling now. Here goes chapter 8…**_

* * *

**Spencer**

"So, why are we driving to Ezra's lodge again?" Toby asked, shooting a quick glance at his girlfriend. "This place looks like death and abandonment." The car radio played a distorted version of "Don't Trust Me" from 3OH!3 and a frosty breeze slipped through the half-opened window. Spencer shifted on the leathery seat next to him. "I told you, it's a surprise", she responded.

He grimaced in frustration and put his focus back on the lane in front of him.

Shortly after their brief conversation, they arrived at Ezra's lodge. Fog enveloped them in thick, white clouds and the wind whispered icily over their faces. Spencer shivered and hugged herself to keep warm. She looked uneasily to the floor. How was she going to tell Toby that Alison was still alive? And that she was practically dragging them with her into a dark descent of dangers? She clutched the door knob tighter than she needed to and sucked in a deep breath.

Toby was close behind her, curiously peeking into the lodge. Spencer couldn't see Ali anywhere, so she simply walked through the living room area and took a seat on the gigantic coach. Toby cautiously took in every detail of his surroundings. "So, this is supposed to be Fitz's secret chamber?" He asked, not really convinced that a peaceful lodge like this was the residence of a professional stalker.

"Uhm..his equipment is in the cellar." Spencer nodded towards the floor where dark lines outlined the hatch to Ezra's high professional spying room.

Toby nodded slowly. "So, will you finally tell me why you brought me here?" As if on cue, a creek resounded from the bathroom. Someone was making their way towards them, with slow and uneasy steps. When they person eventually stepped into everyone's sight, Toby's jaw dropped to the floor.

He hadn't seen her in like … forever. And on top of that, he was convinced that she was well … dead. He looked at her with mixed feelings. He opened his mouth to say something but the words just wouldn't come out.

"I know it is quite a lot to take in", Alison said with a trying-to-sound-empathetic-kind of voice. "It was actually my idea to let you know", she added. Her hands were noticeably shaking and she put them in the pockets of her carmine flannel hoodie. She looked…different. She had only applied a slight touch of makeup, her hair was tied up in a messy bun and dark circles framed her cerulean eyes which had lost all of their forcefulness. This wasn't the girl, Toby once feared. He couldn't, but feel the slightest hint of pity for her.

"I am so glad Spencer was able to see how special you are", she said. Her lips were trembling and Toby noticed her glazed eyes. _Was this for real?_

"I am too", he responded silently. He forced his look off the blonde. Memories he had suppressed so vigorously surfaced and played in front of his mind's eye in an infinite loop. She was one of the main reasons he had to go through such a hard time, she was the one who blackmailed him into confessing to having blind his own stepsister, but after all, it had brought him away from Jenna, so he could forgive her, right? He could put this behind him. He was stronger than the persons who would hold a grudge against someone forever. He breathed in deeply. It felt like a minute had passed before the air escaped his lips again.

Alison looked like a ready-to-be-shot deer. Her eyes were now directed to the floor and she played with a loose thread of her hoodie.

Toby hesitantly stopped towards her and what he did then did not only surprise him or Alison, but also Spencer raised her eyebrows in astonishment.

It didn't feel weird or anything near that. Toby pulled Alison's fragile body to his muscular chest and hugged her tightly. The embrace only lasted for a few seconds, but Alison felt such an immense rush of emotions at this moment. _So, that was what forgiveness felt like_, she thought. Toby took a few steps back and mustered up a smile.

Spencer sighed in relief. Before they had driven to the lodge, she had been envisioning every possible scenario and she literally went through everything - from Toby running away to Toby hitting Alison with his bare fists, but _this _was certainly unexpected. She felt somewhat ashamed to believe that Toby was incapable of forgiving someone. After all, he had forgiven all of them – it hadn't just been Alison giving him a hard time. Sure, she was in charge but they had always possessed the right to their own decisions. However, the consequences would've been too much at that time.

She looked absentmindedly out of the fogged window. Toby had walked up to her, an unsure look on his face. Alison still stood on the other end of the room, inwardly bursting with emotions, which she tried hard not to show.

"So, listen", Alison said, looking into the boy's direction. "We will sort of need your help."

**Hanna**

Caleb stood there, motionless, staring at Hanna in pure astonishment. "She is … alive?"

Hanna nodded slowly. "Sorry, I didn't want to drop the bomb right now, but… I kind of thought you should know", she said so silently Caleb almost didn't hear her.

"I… I have no idea what to say. How long did you know?" He asked. They had parted significantly and Hanna felt almost threatened by the huge distance between them. Maybe it had been a bad idea to tell about Ali? She took a deep breath. "Couple of months, but we couldn't tell anyone. It's complicated", Hanna tried to explain herself.

Caleb nodded slowly, but she noticed his skeptical facial expression. "It always is complicated with you isn't it?" He responded a little coldly.

Hanna felt a stinging pain in her chest. He obviously didn't take the news all too well. She was already expecting him to say and do all kinds of things, but to her surprise Caleb stepped forward and pulled her into a gentle hug. "I will help you with anything, you hear me?", he mumbled into the fabric of her coat. Hanna melted in his embrace. She clung to him so tightly as if he would suddenly change his mind and walk away from her. This time for good.

An almost inaudible sob escaped her lips and Caleb calmingly patted her back. "I am so glad you're back", she whispered and he pulled her even closer.

**Emily**

Emily had just been given the low down on how Spencer had told Toby about Alison and that he had

Emily had just been given the low down on how Spencer had told Toby about Alison and that he had reacted much differently than all of them had expected. She was more than glad though. Despite the fact that they hardly saw each other anymore, Toby would always remain an important part of her life, plus he could definitely help them. He had insider information about A and their team and it wouldn't hurt to have more people on their side to fight against the enemy.

After Alison had informed Toby about the most important events so far, he and Spencer had taken off to 'run some errands' which Emily thought was a very lame excuse for a make out session at Toby's house.

Shortly after their departure, she and Alison had decided to take advantage of the surprisingly warm weather and had taken a seat on two grand decorative stones outside the lodge, sunbathing like in the good old times with the slight difference that here they were so secluded from the rest of the world. No one would ever dare to disturb this peaceful moment right now. Except maybe Emily's newly found friend, Sydney Driscoll, who wouldn't stop texting her. Not that she would mind or anything.

"Why are you like 24/7 on your phone?" Alison asked, trying to catch a glimpse of Emily's cellphone display. She was doing a lot better due to her conversations with Dr. Sullivan and her reconciliation with Toby, but even the slightest remark of anything having to do with her family could throw her off again, so Emily knew better than to ever go there again.

The Canadian girl blushed slightly and put the phone aside as if she didn't want Alison to read her texts. "Oh, it's just a friend."

"Doesn't look like a friend to me", Alison said with a knowing grin on her face. "You're blushing, aren't you?" She nudged the other girl teasingly.

"Noooo", Emily laughed nervously. _Was she blushing? _

So far she hadn't interpreted a lot into her friendship with Sydney. Sure, the girl was amazingly beautiful and had some kind of a character, but she had just gotten out of a relationship and somehow realized that there was still a little left of what used to be a major crush on Alison. Okay maybe a little more than just a little, in all honesty.

However, yesterday, all those thoughts had subsided, if only for a couple of hours.. She had spent a lovely afternoon with Sydney, chatting and laughing about absolutely everything. It had felt so casual unconstrained and nothing, literally nothing, had managed to destroy her mood. Even the perpetual worries that A would pop up at any given moment, was so far away, it was only a distant thought. At the end of their "date" Sydney had even kissed Emily goodbye, which the girl found somewhat flattering. But could this be the beginning of something? She highly doubted it. They had spent their day as nothing more but friends, or rather acquaintances who just happened to really hit it off. She had to admit though that she caught herself swoon over Sydney's somewhat seductive French accent more than just a couple of times. But could it ever be compared to the sound of Alison's slightly gravelly and oddly soothing voice? Could she ever replace the blonde's perfect heart-shaped lips with Sydney's lush and sanguine ones? Was the darkness of her eyes as beautiful as the piercing blue of Alison's?

"We met at swim practice. She's a friend of Paige", Emily explained, playing with a strand of her hair.

"And do you like her?" Alison pried. There was something in her voice Emily couldn't quite determine. It sounded almost as if Alison was … jealous?

She hesitated for a moment, her eyes darting back and forth. She couldn't help but feel guilty for whenever a devious thought would cross her mind. Nevertheless she played with the idea of testing Alison's reactions. What would the blonde think or do when she did indeed like Sydney _that _way? Would she try to talk it out of her? Would she feel happy for her? Emily bit her lower lip in thought. Could she be as cruel as to play with her friend's feelings?

"I kind of do actually", she responded sheepishly. She glanced at the cerulean eyed blonde, who looked at some spot far in the distance. Emily couldn't read her facial expression. Her mouth was slightly ajar as if she was about to add something to the conversation, but she kept silent.

"I miss this", she said after a minute of silence had passed, earning a confused look from her friend.

"You miss what?" Emily asked, furling her eyebrows.

"The rush you get when you fall for someone. The butterflies rummaging in your stomach, the excitement and happiness by the mere sight of someone. Ain't got no time for that when you're trying to hide from your crazy stalker." She dreamily gazed into the sky as if she'd find something there by only looking long enough. The sunlight enlightened her perfectly clear skin and her beautiful blue eyes glistened eagerly. Emily forced her own eyes off her, realizing that she was staring at the blonde way too long.

"There's always that special someone, who you could fall for over and over again, you know? The only person you feel completely safe and secure around. I had sometimes thought that I had found this person, but as it turns out, nothing is ever quite as it seems" she said cryptically and looked at Emily for 5 very long seconds until her eyes wandered to the sky again.

"So, you think there's still someone out there who will someday be that person for you?" Emily asked. She realized her heart was slightly beating faster than before.

Alison shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe, I will, maybe I won't. Maybe, this person has always been around me, but I had never realized it." She gracefully rose from her seat, her long blonde hair waving gently in the light autumn breeze. Then she bowed down and softly, almost imperceptibly, pecked Emily on the cheek, remaining on eye level with the other girl for a brief moment. Emily felt a shiver sneaking down her spine. It was such a rare moment, she wanted to turn back in time and replay it over and over again. She felt the other girl's breath tickling her skin and inhaled the bloomy scent of what she knew was Alison's favorite perfume. Their lips were almost as near as they were when they almost kissed a couple of days ago. Emily couldn't see Alison's eyes as they were overshadowed by a couple of oak trees nearby. The sunlight only illuminated half of her face. Her mouth felt dry and she felt a little dizzy. Alison's presence was … intoxicating. In reality, they had only stayed like this for about the quarter of a minute, but to Emily it felt like at least 10 minutes. She took in every detail of Alison from her cute, upturned nose to her lustrous lips. And then she heard her phone chime in her pocket. New text message.

"You up for some coffee, Filipino? Sydney"

**Aria**

"Can we talk? Please? Wes"

Aria starred at her cellphone for what seemed like an eternity. Tears dotted the corners of her eyes and her lips quivered. An immense rush of emotions jolted through her body. On one hand, she felt betrayed and hurt, but on the other hand she was blind with rage. How could he do something so utterly gruesome? To his very own brother? She sensed a feeling of disgust when she remembered his mouth on hers, sucking fiercely on her lower lip. She had let her guards down and he was right there to take advantage of her fragile self. Obviously dishonesty and deceitfulness ran in the Fitzgerald family.

She carelessly tossed the phone in a corner of her room. It landed ungently on the rough laminate floor and made a loud cracking noise as if it had broken in halves. However, Aria didn't mind. She threw her face in her black and white plaid pillow and let out a sob. She didn't want to cry over Wesley, but the tears came naturally. Beyond that it wasn't only Wesley, it was everything from Alison being back to Ezra being attacked in his goddamn hospital bed. If Wesley was A – even though that didn't made a great deal of sense – she wouldn't know what she'd do. Tears wetted her face and pillows and she tried to swallow the gigantic lump in her throat. However, it just wouldn't go away. How could she have been so foolish and trust him? What kind of person would kiss your almost-dead brother's ex-girlfriend anyway? She mentally scolded herself for being so naïve. She would say she was in a weak state right now and amenable to any influence, but that just wouldn't justify her actions. She bit down on her lip so hard, that she could feel a drip of blood trickling down her chin.

This couldn't be the way how she would deal with the situation. Like lying in bed all day, sobbing over the fact that she had been fooled again was going to help her get on with her life. No, she wasn't going to be that kind of girl. She'd been in this position way too often. Now it was about time to show what Aria Montgomery was capable of.

Toby sat on his sofa and read the newspaper, casually sipping on a cup of coffee that had a crazy looking band logo printed on it. He slurped loudly and changed the page. His hair was messier than usual and he had changed from his usual attire to comfy sweatpants and a white V-neck with a few stains of what seemed to have been some kind of reddish looking sauce once.

_Alison DiLaurentis returning from the death,_ he still couldn't fully rationalize it. Even though he always had felt like the devious blonde was still hunting him, or rather her ghost, he had never considered the possibility of her being alive for sure. After all, her body – or what now seems to be the body of someone else – had been found in the DiLaurentis' backyard and it was all over the news that someone had murdered one of Rosewood's most popular princesses. And then, they had pinned the murder on him. The fact that he had been convicted for killing a still vitally alive person had kind of enraged him when he saw Alison emerging from the shadows at Ezra's lodge. But what belonged in the past, should stay there. Forever.

He slowly rose from his comfortable seat and put his empty cup in the dishwasher. He laid the newspaper on a small wooden coffee table when he noticed the familiar sound of his doorbell.

He whirled around quickly and moved to the entrance. He peeked out of the peephole. A distorted version of a whiskery mailman appeared and Toby almost shrieked. For some reason, he felt nervous.

He turned the knob and opened the door to greet the man. He had a roundish frame and way too revealing clothes. "I've got a delivery for uh…" He pulled out a crumbled piece of paper. "Toby Cavanaugh, is that you?"

Toby nodded vigorously. He almost expected the parcel to have a gigantic red "A" printed on it, but it was just a simple and plain cardboard box with nothing suspicious on it.

"I need you to sign this", the well-nourished postman said, sticking a tablet towards Toby.

"Uh okay." He took the pen that clung to the device and scribbled a somewhat contorted version of his signature on it. "Here." He gave it back and took the parcel, his heart pounding a little faster than it should.

He closed the door and wandered over to the kitchen counter. He took a box knife from one of the drawers and opened the package carefully. When he first peeked inside, he already thought it was just a box full of nothing, but then he noticed a tiny piece of black which he later identified as a videotape.

He looked at it in utter confusion. He was already expecting a saw-like videotape of A, instructing him on the rules of how to survive this horrible game and with an unsure feeling on the back of his mind, he put it into his DVD player.

After a few seconds of blurred pictures that were probably due to the rough handling of the camera, the lens focused on an old building. He could hear whispering voices and he was sure they were male.

It took him a minute to identify the building as the Radley sanitarium. An eerie feeling crept up his body. He could feel his hair stand on end.

The camera zoomed in on one of the many windows. A shadowy figure paced up and forth behind the curtains but he couldn't get a close-up of their face. In the back of his mind, alarm bells went off and warned him that he was going to witness something he would rather not want to see.

However, he kept his eyes glued to the screen expectantly.

The figure stopped, remaining still for a second until he or she was forced against the window pane. Glass shattered and the one in charge of the camera let out a startled cry. The camera caught on a brief glimpse on a female figure dashing downwards. Toby shut his eyes so hard that it almost hurt.

Instantaneously, he knew. But truth was, he didn't want to.

"Woah, did you see that? Who the fuck was that?" A quite familiar voice said behind the camera. But for some reason Toby couldn't identify it properly since the sound quality of the video wasn't that high. Another close-up showed a second shadowy figure – a lot smaller than the first one – standing at the window. Their face was so blurred, Toby couldn't make out anything, but he could swear he had noticed blond locks.

"_Keep away from that blonde girl"_ The memory of Dr. Palmer automatically flashed through Toby's mind. His eyes had dilated to an abnormal size and he felt his heart making somersaults in his rib cage. Suddenly, the room turned ice-cold. He breathed in sharply and exhaled loudly, again and again, as if he was going to hyperventilate. He clutched the arms of his leather TV chair. It felt like his heart was beating out of his chest.

This couldn't be true, it just couldn't. While he was still trying to process this, the guy with the camera kept on filming, trying to catch a glimpse of the anonymous culprit, but whoever it was, had vanished from the window in great haste.

With shaking hands he reached out for the remote control to rewind. He paused the video for a moment, sucking in a few deep breaths and then clicked on 'play'.

Loud clanking. Pieces of glass pattering on the floor and the helpless body of Marion Cavanaugh, his very own mother, following them, in deadly speed. He looked away when she eventually hit the ground. Fortunately, the person filming – whoever the heck it was – had spun away before they could witness how her bones cracked and splintered and how her internal organs would spread over the pavement.

Toby shivered. Tears streamed down his cheeks and his face turned puffy and red. All of the sudden he felt the urge to demolish something. He rose up quickly and headed straight towards his little TV. With a force he thought he'd never possess he dashed his fist into the display that still showed the blurry pictures of his mother's death. A billion shards covered the floor and he felt the warm feeling of blood gushing out of his knuckles. It burned like someone had rubbed jalapeños on his bare skin, but he didn't care. The noradrenaline rushing through his body eased the pain significantly. He panted and stared down on the mess he had caused. His chest ached as if his heart was going to explode at any minute. He felt so much energy in his body that he could've easily sprinted 100 miles without stopping. But instead, he fell to his knees, burying his reddened and wetted face in his bloody hands and cried.

**Hanna**

When Hanna and Caleb arrived at in one of Rosewood's many back alleys, they found themselves at the door of an apartment that seemed to have been unoccupied for centuries. They door was almost falling off the hinges and the crimson varnish was slowly but surely exfoliating. There were some tiny, thin scratches at the bottom part of the door. Hanna reckoned that a couple of stray cats had tried to get indoors during winter.

"You sure we've got the right address?" She looked at Caleb with an unsure look on her face. It had took them a good 3 hours to localize Lucas' phone, but in the end the young hacking genius had managed to crack the code. They had exactly followed the coordinates they had received by the hacking software and now they were here.

"It should be." Caleb shrugged and tried to open the door, but an old-fashioned door-lock hindered him. It made a loud, uncomfortable rattling noise that resounded throughout the whole back alley. Hanna was pretty sure it even drowned out the passing cars on the main street.

"I am coming, wait a sec", a raspy voice called from somewhere inside with an annoyed undertone.

An old, craggy woman with greyish, thin hair and thick, fogged glasses appeared at the front step. She put her whole weight on a wooden cane. An unpleasant smell of cigarettes and detergent wafted in their direction. Her breath was slow and sounded like someone was rubbing a piece of sandpaper against the wall. "What do you want?" She asked in an unfriendly tone. Her skin looked leathern and Hanna could swear that a drip of spit had sprinkled her while she spoke. Grimacing in disgust, she wiped it off her face.

"Uh, … we were wondering if you know a Lucas Gottesmen? He is supposedly lives here. Caleb unsurely pointed inside the apartment.

The woman looked at him as if he had just proposed that Nessie, the sea monster had swum by a couple of minutes ago. Then she let out a snorting, incredulous laugh as if it was absolutely absurd that someone would live _here_.

"He's uh approximately as tall as I am, has dark, curled hairs, upturned nose, brown eyes, usually looks like his mother dresses him…"

The woman scrunched up her nose, which made her skin look even more wrinkled than it had looked before. "Oh, you mean _him_". She didn't really sound as if Lucas was a welcomed guest of hers.

"He moved out, couldn't afford the rent anymore. Plus, I found his behavior preposterous. He was always sneaking out in the midst of the night and meeting with shady figures. Whenever I would ask him, he'd act so secretive. I reckon he is a drug dealer, isn't he? Are you his colleagues? I don't want to have anything to do with this. I don't need the police in front of my door."

Hanna couldn't help it and burst out laughing. _Lucas? A drug dealer? Never. _She sucked in a deep breath to calm herself and then said: "I am sorry, but this is just so … ridiculous. Lucas is _not_ a drug dealer", she tried to assure the lady.

"Whatever he does for a living, I don't want to know or be involved. He packed up his stuff yesterday in the evening", she responded. Her hands were slightly shaking.

"But that can't be. We tracked down his cellphone number", Caleb accidentally blurted out.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second", she vanished inside the apartment as quick as her joints would allow and reappeared a minute later with a silver, shiny piece of something in her hands.

"I was already wondering whose that might be." She showed them an old LG model with a scratched display.

Hanna reached out to take it, but the woman snatched it away from her. "This is not yours", she said with a stern and reprimanding voice. "You'll have to pay it for it, if you want it", she added in an obvious attempt to make some easy money.

Hanna pressed her lips together to a thin line. She was mentally calling the woman all kinds of names, but managed to keep her thoughts to herself. She shot Caleb a pleading glance. He took out his wallet, so he obviously got the hint. "How much do you want?" he asked, browsing through some 50s. Hanna looked somewhat astonished. _Not bad_, she thought to herself. She had yet had to get used to the fact that Caleb wasn't sleeping at schools or their guest room anymore, but had enough money to take care of himself.

The old lady looked as if she was going to drool over his portemonnaie. "150", she said as if she had counted his money. Caleb had to bite down on his lower lip to prevent himself from not saying anything inappropriate. "100", he tried to deal with her.

The woman hesitated for a second and decided that it was better than nothing. "Deal", she said and almost ripped the money out of Caleb's hands. She roughly pressed the LG in his hands and vanished inside the dark hole she called an apartment. The door was shut audibly.

"What a bitch", Hanna whispered to Caleb, but he simply shrugged it off. He looked at the electronic device in his hands. "Now what?"

**Emily**

When Emily had left the lodge to meet with Sydney, she had to suppress the urge to look back repeatedly. _This will never be reality_, she told herself and the more she realized it was probably true, the more she felt an inner emptiness slowly but surely eating her from inside out.

At the Brew she was welcomed by a warm and wide grin of her new friend. Without hesitating the split of a second, Sydney approached her and swung her arms around her neck to pull her in for a friendly hug. Emily couldn't deny the tingle sneaking up her spine. But was it comparable to the feeling she got when Ali's soft lips had brushed hers, ready to fully embrace them. She wondered what would've happened if A hadn't interrupted them back then? And what would've happened if Sydney hadn't texted her about an hour ago? She couldn't put her finger on what the blonde had in mind whenever she acted so strangely around Emily. Didn't she know what she was causing? Oor was that the reason why she did it? Emily would've said it was kind of obvious that she had fallen for the blonde all over again or rather that her love had never completely vanished but was only kept at someplace safe in the back of her mind, held back by her attempt to start something new with Maya, Paige and now … Sydney? She let go off the girl and a crooked smile showed up on her face.

"So, Latte or Americano? It's my treat."

* * *

It was as ifthey had relived their date from yesterday, only this time Emily had felt even more at ease. She noticed the occasional touches and subtle compliments and more than once had her face turned a faint color of red. When they walked home, the sun had disappeared behind a mountain ridge in the distance and brightly shining stars covered the dark night sky. The two girls had decided to hang out in one of Rosewood's many romantic parks and were now sitting in the freshly mowed grass, inhaling its refreshing and natural smell. Emily allowed her gaze to drop blatantly on Sydney's well-shaped figure. When the girl returned her gaze, Emily looked away quickly.

Sydney smiled softly. "Can I ask you a question?"

Emily glanced back at her and nodded slowly. Above them two bats were fluttering frantically through the sky. The moon had now eventually replaced the sun and glowed majestically in the sky. The wind was whispering into her ear and the Canadian girl trembled.

"You and Paige, are you … are you still dating?" Her confidence had all of the sudden submerged and instead of her trademark-grin, her lips were a thin, impassive line. Her eyes darted back and forth and she played with a loose thread of her white and brown striped wool pullover. Her skin shimmered in the pale moonlight.

Emily breathed in slowly. She let a few seconds pass before she answered. "No, we broke up about a week ago. But we're friends." She hesitated, then she said "Why are you asking?"

"Just … curious", Sydney responded almost indifferently.

They remained a few moments in silence and Emily felt as if the tension between them was growing by the minute. She had to busy her hands with something else or she was afraid she would grab the girl by her shoulders to find an outlet for said tension. Thus she fiddled with the little fringes dangling from her leathern bag.

"We should go, huh? It's getting pretty late and I still haven't studied for that god damn economy test", Sydney broke the silence.

"Yes", Emily almost whispered. She couldn't, but feel a bit disappointed. They two of them got up, but for some reason unknown – maybe it was her circulatory system or maybe it was on purpose – Emily lost balance and threatened to trip. Impulsively Sydney caught her underneath her armpits and cautiously pulled her up, bringing the other girl dangerously close to herself. Emily's heart started racing when she sensed Sydney's familiar scent which was a mixture of chlorine and Pina Colada perfume.

"You okay?" The Alaskan girl asked, wearing a worried expression on her face. Emily nodded and then she surprised herself by leaning in quickly to close the minimal gap between them. She glided her lips against Sydney's, hesitantly as to intimate her own uncertainty. At first Sydney didn't respond and Emily was already pulling her mouth away from hers, her eyes widened in shock and shame, but then the other girl placed her long fingers on Emily's cheek and pulled her in for a more passionate kiss. She teasingly dipped her tongue in Emily's mouth for a thorough exploration. Her other hand was lightly placed on the spot of Emily's back that would make her loose her footing when touched in the right way. She softly caressed it and Emily couldn't suppress a subtle moan. She could feel Sydney's smile in-between their kisses. She forced her eye lids down and kissed harder and more forcefully. Sydney seemed kind of startled, but adjusted quickly. However, Emily couldn't wipe Alison's perfect face off her memory system during the entire make out session.

_Maybe, this person has always been around me, but I had never realized it,_ she repeated the sentence over and over in her head and visualized Ali's heart shaped lips forming the letters. Her piercing blue eyes looking right through her.

_There's always that special someone, who you could fall for over and over again, you know?_

_No!_ A voice in the back of her head screamed. She abruptly pulled away from Sydney starring desperately at the other girl. For the split of a second she looked into Ali's face instead of hers. Emily had to blink several times to realize it was just a hallucination.

"Is something…is something wrong?" Sydney asked in obvious confusion. "If this is about Paige, I totally understand…it's just that I really like you", she added.

Emily took in a deep breath, ready to tell her that she was trying to get over someone and that this would be doomed like any other relationship of hers. But the words got stuck in her throat. Instead she muttered an excuse to leave under her breath, picked up her stuff and hurried away, leaving a bewildered Sydney behind.

**Aria**

They met at a secluded place somewhere far away from Rosewood's bustling city center. Wesley Fitzgerald was casually leaning against the outside of his black Dodge which looked ostentatious next to the bleak and empty landscape. He was wearing a plaid cashmere shirt and a pair of faded True Religious jeans. A cigarette but hung from the corner of his mouth. Aria didn't even know he smoked. But then again, there were a few more things he hadn't told her about. She drove up to his side with her shimmery blue SUV and exited the car. A cold breeze hit her as soon as she put her foot on the soft grass underneath her. She looked up at the dark night sky and almost expected a rain drop to fall down on her face. Wesley looked as if he had aged at least 5 years over the past few days with dark circles framing his eyes. Aria frowned and approached him with undeniable reluctance.

He nodded in her direction, sucked one last time on his cigarette and then threw it away. Aria scrunched up her nose in disgust. _He could have at least stomp it out_, she thought, but didn't say anything. There were far more important things on their to-discuss-list.

Aria's eyes awkwardly darted back and forth. There were so many things on her mind that she wanted to express, she didn't know where to start.

"So?" Wesley asked, one eyebrow raised, his face vacant and his tone colder than usual.

"So?" Aria mimicked indignantly. "First of all, would you care to explain why you wanted to hurt your very own brother?" She almost screamed. Her voice echoed through the air.

"I didn't", Wesley answered coldly. "I just didn't tell you about it, is all."

"Wha…" Aria felt her words get stuck inside her throat. _He didn't? _

"Yeah, sure. And why should I believe _that_?"

"Look…" He spread his arms helplessly. "I liked you okay? And yes maybe it wasn't right to keep it a secret from you, but I had my reasons. You don't need to understand. But for god's sake, stop saying I would hurt my brother. I care about him just as much as you do." He pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

Aria was obviously dumbfounded. She stood there, motionless, her raven hair softly swaying in the wind. If Wes hadn't tried to kill Ezra, there was only one other option. Her heart skipped a beat as she mouthed a silent "A".

Wesley looked at her with a frown. Blue smoke floated in the air when he parted his lips slightly. "What?"

"No…nothing", Aria said. Her head was spinning and a nauseating feeling overcame her. If the young male wouldn't be here now, she would have vanished behind her car and threw up. Her hands were shaking and cold sweat beads formed on her forehead. "I gotta go." She spun round on her heel and got into her car. She fiddled with the seatbelt and put her still trembling hands on the steering wheel. Tears dotted her eyes and a quiet whimper escaped her lips.

Wesley was still standing next to the street, sucking on his cigarette, starring confusedly at her through the windshield.

The engine roared loudly as she turned the ignition key and backed out of her position. As she drove down the road heading towards the inner city of Rosewood, she took a glimpse of Wesley's figure evaporating in the distance in her rearview mirror.

**Emily**

She had at least run 2 miles without stopping. Her throat burned and a stinging pain went through her chest. Her mind was clouded with at least a gazillion thoughts. She didn't know what else to do or say, so she had just escaped from Sydney. Truth was, she liked her too, and she wanted nothing more but to get on with her life and forget about Alison. But it almost seemed as if the blonde didn't want her to forget about her. Since Ali had returned to their clique, she had done nothing but throw ambivalent, unclear signs at Emily, confusing the girl even more than she already was. It was as if Emily couldn't escape those feelings, only if Alison was gone…for good.

She forced her eyes shut and felt a single tear streaming down her face. She had to come clean with this. Either she'd tell Alison about her feelings or she'd go insane.

**Alison**

Alison would lie if she would say that the events of today hadn't made her feel a teensy bit better. The fact that someone was actually capable of forgiving her for all the gruesome things she had done was so flattering, it had brought tears of joy to her eyes.

She hummed gleefully along a song by "The Pierces" that resounded from a tiny radio on the kitchen counter. And because she knew tomorrow nothing would've changed and A would still be longing for her death, she savored every second of this rare moment of content.

Until her cellphone bleeped…

It was as if the room turned from cozily warm to deadly cold. A shiver snaked up her spin and spread over her entire body. All of the sudden, every little noise around her seemed a hundred miles away. Only the ticking of the clock was audible – tick, tick, tick. Her eyes hesitantly wandered to her glowing phone. It kept on chiming and Alison almost considered deleting the message before reading it. But then again, that might put her into even greater danger.

With her trembling hands she reached out to silence the device by clicking on "Open new text message".

Her face froze with horror.

"Little Alison rising from the death. How about you let everyone in on your little secret? You better do what I tell you, or I'll bring another dirty secret back from the death. –A"

She let go of her phone and it fell to the floor with a loud clattering noise.

_They knew_.

… '_**cause two can only keep a secret, if one of them is dead …**_

* * *

_**So, I hope you liked this chapter! It did take me a little longer though but I had a lot going on in school, so I hardly got the time to write. **_

_**- C**_


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